Sharmin Segal reacts to backlash for her performance in ‘Heeramandi’

Despite opening to polarising reactions, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, has drawn a significant viewership on ‘Netflix’ and secured the number two spot on the platform’s weekly top 10 list for non-English language shows in its debut week, raking in 4.5 million views, with 33 million accumulated viewership hours.

However, while the show is earning massive praise from certain quarters, it’s also facing significant criticism for its perceived glorification of non-consensual sex, glamorisation of women’s suffering and aestheticisation of their pain. Following its theme and presentation, much of the scrutiny has been directed towards actor Sharmin Segal, Bhansali’s niece who also played a key role in the show. Since the series debuted on May 1, Sharmin has faced intense backlash for her performance, which many have deemed poor. As the criticism escalated into online trolling and extended to her official social media profiles, Sharmin reportedly disabled comments on her Instagram account.

She earlier addressed the criticisms and online trolling and opened up about how she handles all the scrutiny. “There is a lot of pressure and sometimes it manifests in weird ways,” she had said while appearing on a ‘BBC Asian Network’ podcast.