Daily Times

After a lot of criticism and brutal trolling on social media, veteran filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has finally reacted to his niece, Sharmin Segal’s performance in his new series, ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his blockbuster body of work and his perfectionist attitude, bringing out the absolute best in an actor, be it Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, or the very latest, the actors of ‘Heermandi’. However, his niece Segal, who essayed Alamzeb in the Netflix series, is being constantly criticised for her bland and expressionless performance and was even dubbed as the weakest link among the seasoned cast. Viewers also questioned Bhansali for casting her in a lengthy role, only because of his relation to her.

In a new interview, the Bollywood filmmaker spoke about the performance of the ensemble star cast, including Segal, in his much-anticipated series.

Bhansali chose not to address the criticism around her acting but rather praised Segal’s work. He said, “She kept saying, ‘Mama, I’ll underplay.’ I said, ‘Underplay? Are you thinking I’m going to ask you to overplay?”

However, speaking about this ‘new energy’, brought to the table by the young generation of actors, SLB said, “I know that they love me as much. I can see it in the way, ‘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.”