Sanjay Leela Bhansali was worried Heeramandi’s oral sex scene could be ‘ridiculous’, came up with it on the set: Shekhar Suman

Shekhar Suman said that the Heeramandi sequence, in which his character performs a sexual act in thin air, was devised by Sanjay Leela Bhansali on set.

Shekhar Suman talks about the oral sex scene from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi.

Shekhar Suman talks about the oral sex scene from Heeramandi. (Photo: Shekhar Suman/Instagram)

Actor Shekhar Suman has revealed that the much-talked about oral sex scene in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar was improvised on set, with the filmmaker flipping the scripted sequence on the spot. The actor said that Bhansali first checked if he was comfortable performing the new scene, in which his nawab character appears to have sex in thin air because he’s too drunk to notice where his partner actually is.

In an interview with Radio City, Shekhar Suman was asked about the scene, and how it was executed. He said that Bhansali is “ever evolving” as a filmmaker, and that he often surprises himself and his crew with fresh takes. “Even if a scene is written, when he is on set with actors, sometimes he will flip it completely. If you are like, ‘I had thought something else,’ he will tell you, ‘This is my interpretation.’ So, this scene, where my character is drunk, it was a normal sequence but he felt the subtext of the sequence was different. So, he suggested we do it differently, where I am doing this mid-air…”

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Shekhar continued, “He asked, ‘Are you open for it? If not, that is okay,’ because the scene can turn out really ridiculous, it is a fine line, a tightrope. But I was up for it, and told him main bilkul karuga and we just went into it.”

Watch the scene:

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The actor revealed that he performed the long scene–which is also his introductory shot–in one take, which left the crew very pleased because they wouldn’t have to stay back all day. “He doesn’t overinform or feed you. He describes to you the mental state and the background, and asks you to go ahead and do it. It was done in one take. It was a long scene and we did it the first take itself. Once it was one, he came and said, ‘Magnificent! Pack up!’ After that, people from the unit came to me and said, ‘Sir aapki wajah se humare 6-7 ghante bach gaye, we are getting over early!'”

Released on May 1, Heeramandi has become one of the most widely discussed Netflix originals of the year, with the series garnering sharp reactions from the audience. The show also starred Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha and Sharmin Segal, among others. Manisha also spoke about the scene in question, and told Bollywood Bubble that it’s an example of Bhansali trying to be as unique as he can.

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