Becoming Fareedan: How Sonakshi Sinha Prepped For Heeramandi

Sonakshi Sinha is looking like a million bucks in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. In the Netflix show, Sonakshi plays Fareedan, a courtesan residing in Khwaabgaah. On Saturday, the actress shared a behind-the-scenes (BTS) video on Instagram, "The making of fiery Fareedan." The video shows her transformation journey, including makeup, costume, and hair. She says, “Hi guys. It's me, Sonakshi Sinha. And today I am getting ready for Heeramandi, which is possibly the most elaborate look I've ever done in my career.” Seconds later, the actress asks her team, “Have we ever done a hairstyle like this?” To which, they reply, “No.” The star continues, “And it's new and fresh. And I am very excited about this look.”

Talking about the director, Sonakshi Sinha adds, “Sanjay sir told me, my eyes are my best features. It is beautiful. It is simplistic. Of course, Sanjay sir completely visualised Fareedan in his own way.” The video also includes a glimpse of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sonakshi reviewing a scene on camera post-shooting, with Sanjay clapping and showing his appreciation with a flying kiss.

After that, Sonakshi Sinha shows off all the “real” jewellery and shares, “This is a paasa, which is a very elaborate piece of jewellery.” She describes the jewels as “asli sona”, which is also the name of her Instagram handle. Then, we get a glimpse of Fareedan's costume. Sonakshi mentions that Sanjay Leela Bhansali likes the dupatta to be “supernatural, just like flowy, free.”

Towards the end of the video, Sonakshi appears fully ready as Fareedan, looking stunning. The clip concludes with her dialogue in the series, “Aaj ki baazi aapke naam, kal ki hamare naam hogi. Aap jaha aaj hai, kal hum honge. [Today's victory is yours, tomorrow's will be mine. Where you are today, I will be there tomorrow.]”

The side note read, “The making of fiery Fareedan. Getting into Fareedan's look was 90% of me getting into character. The elaborate costumes by Rimple & Harpreet, beautiful makeup by Heema Dattani, that amazing curly bob by Madhuri Nakhale and Sanjay sir's vision helped me embody the character of this feisty revenge seeker… who you all have loved so much Here's a little glimpse for you…”

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Manisha Koirala, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha, and Aditi Rao Hydari also play pivotal roles in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.