Shekhar Suman calls people ‘stupid’ for questioning Heermandi’s authenticity, says audiences from ‘padosi mulk’ are jealous

Shekhar Suman, who was recently seen in the Netflix series Heeramandi, is continuing to promote the show even a month after its release. In a recent interview, Shekhar said that “stupid” people were fussing over the historical accuracy of the series. Heeramandi is inspired by the real stories of courtesans of Lahore who participated in the freedom struggle, but has been criticised by a section of the audience for misrepresenting history. Shekhar also pointed out that there were some people from “padosi mulk (neighbouring country)” who were “jealous” of the show. Shekhar said that Bhansali is known for his “dystopian sagas,” even though the filmmaker has never made one.

In a chat with Bollywood Hungama, Shekhar said, “Lot of stupid people are fussing and obsessing over it, talking about it and questioning the historical accuracy and authenticity and chronology, but Bhansali saab is known for his dystopian sagas. He is known for a world that he creates. He is a master craftsman. He creates his own world and that’s cinema. Cinema should not be questioned, interpretation should not be questioned because that’s his point of view. Take it or leave it.”

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He added that Bhansali never set out to make a documentary on Heeramandi, so whatever he has shown on screen is just his interpretation of Lahore of the 1940s. “If you start dissecting it… He hasn’t made a documentary on Heeramandi. He has just taken a cue from there,” he said.

Since several people from Pakistan had taken to social media to criticise the show, Shekhar said that they are jealous. “Padosi mulk ke kuch log hain (There are some people of the neighbouring country) who are feeling very jealous about the fact ki inhone kyu bana dia (Why did they make it)? Bhai aap bana lete (You could have made it) and why are you even discussing our Heeramandi? We don’t discuss your films. We don’t even know whether you make films,” he said.

Heeramandi has now been renewed for another season by Netflix.