Heeramandi: Here’s How Cillian Murphy’s Peaky Blinders Helped Manisha Koirala aka Mallikajaan’, “To Bring In The Realism…”

Manisha Koirala plays Mallikajaan, the one who decides the way of tawaifs and how things function in Heeramandi.

By
Pooja Darade
- May 6, 2024 | 7:50 PM IST
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Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi series was released on Netflix on May 1, 2024. The series marked the director’s OTT debut and has received mixed reactions. It stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar Suman, Adhyayan Suman, and others. The period drama has eight episodes overall, each lasting at least an hour.

Heeramandi on Netflix is based on the life of courtesans during India’s pre-independence period. It’s a story of love, revenge, power, and politics. Manisha Koirala plays Mallikajaan, the one who decides the way of tawaifs and how things function in Heeramandi. The actress has received praise for her clever, sinister, cold, but graceful performance as Mallikajaan.

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Cillian Murphy’s Peaky Blinders Inspires Manisha Koirala

Manisha Koirala revealed that veteran star Rekha was considered to play the character in Heeramandi two decades ago. When the 1942: A Love Story actress was offered the role, she wanted to bring realism. Manisha was tying to navigate how to get the cold gaze of Mallikajaan. That’s when someone suggested she watch Cillian Murphy’s Peaky Blinders. “To bring in the realism, you can’t put the character in the box. So I had to figure and navigate it. I think even after doing a few scenes, I was still in the process of navigating,” Koirala said.

“I was asking his (Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s) very good assistant, ‘Mita, do you think there is some reference?’ She told me, ‘Manisha, watch Peaky Blinders.’ So I watched Peaky Blinders and picked a few things, especially the actor’s and the hero’s cold gaze. I said if I could get that, it would be fabulous because personally, I have never come across anyone like Mallikajaan,” Manisha Koirala told Filmygyam.

Meanwhile, Heeramandi marks Manisha Koirala’s first web series. The actress was last seen on the big screen in the 2023 movie Shehzada, which stars Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon. On the other hand, Cillian Murphy’s Peaky Blinders has six seasons available on Netflix. The seventh season will not be a show, but a movie and final chapter of Tommy Shelby’s life.

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