Heeramandi: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama web series ‘Hiramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’ is in the news at the moment. This web series of Bhansali has recently been released on Netflix. It is based on the famous courtesan neighborhood of Lahore. In this series, many veteran Bollywood actors surprised everyone with their acting. While on one hand this much talked about series of Bhansali is being praised, on the other hand there is no dearth of people criticizing it. And similarly there is also the story of a prostitute who, like ‘Hiramandi’, dared to rise against the British Empire.
Bibbojan helped freedom fighters financially in Hiramandi
Aditi Rao Hydari is one of the 6 main lead characters in Bhansali’s Heeramandi. She is seen in the role of Bibbojan in the series. Although she is a courtesan of Mallikajan’s brothel, she secretly helps the revolutionaries working against the British during the Quit India Movement. The show shows how Bibbojan helps the freedom fighters financially in the war against the British and ultimately what price they have to pay for it.
That famous courtesan is not from Lahore but from Banaras
The actual incident from which Hiramandi took place did not take place in Lahore, nor did it take place around the Quit India Movement. Rather, this incident took place in Banaras in the year 1920, when the most famous courtesan of this area was Gauhar Jaan. During that time, Mahatma Gandhi, who had recently returned from South Africa, started the Swaraj Nidhi to fight the British Raj. During that time, Gandhi met Gauhar Jaan, who was a millionaire at that time and was counted among the wealthiest Indians. In 1920, Gandhi asked Gauhar Jaan for help in raising funds for the Swaraj movement. After this, Gauhar Jaan had said yes to perform the dance, but for this he had put a condition that Gandhi would have to participate in it.
Gandhi was not given full money for breaking his promise
Gauhar Jaan performed the dance as per his promise, but Gandhi did not come there. He sent Maulana Shaukat Ali as his representative in his place. Gauhar Jaan raised Rs 24,000 from this show, which was a huge amount at that time. But as Gandhi did not fulfill his promise, Gauhar also gave half of that money i.e. only Rs 12,000 to Maulan. She told Maulana that if he could not fulfill his promise, she would also give only half the money. This entire incident has reportedly been mentioned in Vikram Sampat’s book ‘My Name is Gauhar Jaan’.
Was raped at the age of 13
Let us tell you that in the same book of Vikram Sampat, it has been told that Gauhar Jaan is mainly considered to be the first millionaire singer of India, who had her own private train. However, achieving this success was not easy or spectacular for him. The daughter of a prostitute, she grew up in a brothel and was sexually abused before her adolescence. According to reports, she was raped at the age of 13. People’s behavior towards him was also very bad. He died in 1930 at the age of 56.
On Kapil’s show, Sonakshi spoke like this about marriage, said- Salt on the burn…