Vivek Agnihotri on ‘Heeramandi’: Brothels are monuments of human injustice, pain, suffering

The director feels that it’s not right to glamourise brothels, referring to them as monuments of human injustice, pain, and suffering.

Mumbai: Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, who last directed ‘The Vaccine War’, has shared his perspective on the recently released streaming show ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’.

The director feels that it’s not right to glamourise brothels, referring to them as monuments of human injustice, pain, and suffering.

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Vivek recently took to X and praised a Pakistani doctor for her critique of the show.

The director quote-tweeted the doctor’s critique, which said that the show lacks research and that many things from the era that are intended to be shown don’t sit well with the facts.

Vivek wrote: “A brilliant critique. I haven’t seen the show, but I have visited Heeramandi in Lahore a few times. Bollywood has this tendency to romanticise courtesans and brothels. It’s a sad commentary because brothels have never been places of opulence, glamour, or beauty. These are monuments of human injustice, pain, and suffering.”

He also recommended a film on a similar subject that he feels is more nuanced than the show, which marks Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT debut.

Vivek added: “Those unfamiliar with this should watch Shyam Benegal’s Mandi. Also, a question we must ask: Does creativity give us the freedom to glamourise human suffering? Is it okay to make a film where slum life is depicted as a life of abundance?”