Sanjeeda Shaikh Reveals She Did Not Audition For Her Role In Heeramandi

Sanjeeda Shaikh has been a popular name in the Indian television industry for long. Recently, she once again proved her mantle as an actor with her stellar performance as Waheeda in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut OTT series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Sanjeeda’s character is one of the most complex, having been deceived by both her family and fate. Since the series started streaming on Netflix, the audience could not help but praise the actress’s nuanced performance. In a recent podcast, Sanjeeda revealed that she had not auditioned for the role of Waheeda.

In conversation with Filmygyan, Sanjeeda Shaikh said that she was aware that Sanjay Leela Bhansali was making a show called Heeramandi, and she had a meeting with him. She stated, “It was a brief meeting of 10 minutes, and sir mujhse 10- 15 saal pehle mil chuke the, I thought he would not remember about the meeting, but he did, and he was like, You are looking better, looking fresher, and looking happier. And then he asked me not to tell anyone about this meeting.” The actress stated that she went home hoping that she would get the role.

Sanjeeda recalled, “There was no audition…Sir did not audition, he just called for a look test after 3 4 months of the meeting.” She added that when she went for the look test the team started doing prosthetics because the character had a scar on her face, which made her feel like, “ wow this is getting intense.” She further tried different outfits, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali was taking the look test himself. He asked her to do various elements for her character. The actress stated, “I was doing everything, and suddenly he said, Ye hai meri Waheeda.”

Heeramandi is set in the 1940s against the backdrop of the struggle for independence. It looks at the cultural reality of a major district in pre-partition India through the eyes of courtesans and nawabs. The series stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Sharmin Segal. The star cast also included Fardeen Khan, Taha Shah, Shekhar Suman, and Adhyayan Suman. The series premiered on Netflix on May 1.