Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest offering Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar released earlier this month and has been trending big ever since. From Aditi Rao Hydari’s Gajagamini walk to Sonakshi’s magical performance in Tilasmi Bahein, fans have been showering praises on the entire cast for their stellar acting. Such however was not the case with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s niece Sharmin Segal, who also played an integral part in the web series. Ever since the show dropped on Netflix, the actress has been on the receiving end of trolling by fans, which led her to turn on her Instagram’s comment section.
Recently, the filmmaker shared with Hindustan Times his experience of working with Sharmin on the sets. “She kept saying, ‘Mama, I’ll underplay.’ I said, ‘Underplay? Are you thinking I’m going to ask you to overplay?”
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, however, added that he found her “new energy” fascinating. “I know that they (the new generation of actors) love me as much. I can see it in the way (they ask me), ‘Are you happy? Should we do one more take? Can we do it one more time? Are you okay? I can see that love in their eyes. Now that’s very rare,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sharmin, who appeared on The Great Indian Kapil Show along with the cast of series, revealed she auditioned for the role 16 times despite being Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s niece. When Kapil inquired, “Kya unhone aapka sach me audition liya tha ya aapne unko mamu banaya?” (Did they truly audition you or did you just get the benefit of uncle-niece relationship?),” Sharmin replied that the process included 16 rounds of audition. She said on the show, “Ek saal ke liye prepare kiya aur 16 baar auditions diye” (I prepared for a year and gave 16 auditions for the role).”
