Heeramandi: Jason Shah claims Sanjay Leela Bhansali 'wasn't directing much' on set; says 'I had other...'
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Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar was one of the year's biggest OTT releases. The web series premiered on Netflix and featured an ensemble star cast that included Jason Shah. The actor played the role of British police officer Alastair Cartwright. Recently, on Inside The Mind With Rushabh podcast, Jason made a surprising claim about the show's director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The actor claimed that the filmmaker didn't direct much on the set.
Jason Shah on Sanjay Leela Bhansali and his series Heeramandi
On the podcast, Jason Shah revealed Sanjay Leela Bhansali had a lot on his plate as he directed a web series for the first time. The actor added that the Heeramandi director relied on his team to film some of the scenes with actors other than the primary cast. Jason further recalled it took two-and-a-half years for SLB to make Heeramandi.
"I think web (series) and film are a little bit different because the web is very stretched; you have a lot of episodes to make. It took him two-and-a-half years to make this. He also wasn’t directing that much; I had other directors with me. I felt like we could’ve worked on it (his character) a little bit more. A lot more colour could’ve come out; it had the capacity," he said.
Shah also believed that his character in Heeramandi could've been fleshed out much better than it was. However, Jason didn't point it out as he didn't want to be labelled 'problem maker'.
Jason Shah on his character in Heeramandi
The actor revealed he has played a lot of British officers' characters in different projects. He has been on sets where there has been a lot of talk about history. "Look at Ben Kingsley’s Gandhi there they show how far racism can go. I said enough; I would’ve become a problem-maker if I said more," added Shah.
Meanwhile, SLB's Heeramandi's primary cast included Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha, and Sanjeeda Shaikh. On the other hand, Fardeen Khan, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman and Adhyayan Suman were the lead male actors of the series.
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