Since its debut, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar has received extremely polarised reactions - while many have loved its maximalism and larger-than-life canvas, it has also received criticism for aestheticising the pain of women and certain errors in the way that era has been portrayed. Actor Jason Shah, who portrayed the villainous British cop Alistair Cartwright, has addressed the criticism directed towards certain actors. Sharmin Segal, for instance, has faced backlash for her portrayal of Alamzeb, by certain section of audience. According to Jason, it's valuable to heed differing opinions about your work. In an interview with DNA, Jason said, “I think it’s a good thing to listen when someone has a different opinion about your work. We should listen to those more rather than just the flattery or the praise because there we can find places that we can explore something that we didn’t try. Maybe that person does have an angle that we have not seen due to our lack of perspective.” Jason said that he is receptive to all the feedback coming his way. However, he said that he pays more attention to ‘constructive criticism’ rather than people who say ‘you have done a great job’. He said, “You need to be aware of someone who has a different angle. I want to ask them why they think like that.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @jasonshah The actor continued, “We are used to being applauded and told ‘bhai kya shot diya (what a shot you have given)’. But I want to listen to the guy who tells me ‘thoda aise kar leta toh aur mazaa aata (had you done it differently, it would have been better)’. When you listen to that opinion, you improve and something great can come up.” Since Heeramandi came out on Netflix, Sharmin has received a lot of criticism. She also turned off comments on her Instagram because of the online trolling. Heeramandi stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditi Rao Hydari among others in pivotal roles.
