Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos shared what happened when Sanjay Leela Bhansali first traveled to the US to present Heeramandi to the streaming giant.

When Heeramandi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s grand vision, received the green light from Netflix, it marked a milestone for Indian streaming content. Known for his extravagant and visually stunning storytelling, Bhansali’s transition to the world of series was both ambitious and unexpected. During a recent conversation,

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos recalled feeling that Bhansali, with the sheer scale of his pitch, almost seemed to be daring them to reject the project.

Ted Sarandos on Bhansali’s pitch for Heeramandi

Speaking on Nikhil Kamath’s WTF podcast, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos opened up about the ambitious scale of Heeramandi and his experience working on it. He described it as one of the most creatively fascinating Indian projects he’s been part of.

Recalling the initial pitch, Sarandos shared that Sanjay Leela Bhansali flew to Los Angeles with a grand, larger-than-life vision. “It honestly felt like a dare,” Sarandos said, “as if he was challenging us—‘I dare you to make this, it’s so big.’”

He added that Bhansali, a legendary figure in Indian cinema, taking on a TV series was itself a bold move. “It felt like he expected us to say no,” Sarandos noted. However, when Netflix agreed, the project faced several delays due to the complexity of the production.

Announced in 2021, Heeramandi took nearly three years to complete before finally premiering on Netflix in May 2024. Speaking about the production,.

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Ted Sarandos shared that Sanjay Leela Bhansali constructed massive, real-life sets for the shoot, giving the project a charming, old-world feel. “There was something beautifully old-fashioned about every part of the production

About SLB’s Heeramandi

Heeramandi is a fictional drama set in the iconic red-light district of Lahore during pre-Partition, undivided India. Sanjay Leela Bhansali originally envisioned the story as a film back in 2007.

Years later, he brought it back to life as a grand-scale series. Initially, Bhansali had hoped to cast Pakistani actors Mahira Khan, Fawad Khan, and Imran Abbas in key roles. However, those plans were dropped following the unofficial ban on Pakistani artists in India post-2016.

The final ensemble cast includes Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Sharmin Segal, and Taha Shah Badussha.

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