Veteran actress Mumtaz had reportedly been offered a key role in the upcoming web-series' Heeramandi', which she has turned down.
'Heeramandi,' Sanjay Leela Bhansali's (SLB) next project, is already in the works and the filmmaker has begun casting for the web series. Mumtaz, a former actress, was offered a part in the upcoming web series. The actress, on the other hand, declined the project.
The legendary actress was reportedly offered a major role that needed her to perform Mujra, according to Bollywood Hungama. The actress declined, claiming that her husband would be offended if she danced at her age.
Further in an interview with Bombay Times, Mumtaz was asked about the offer she has declined to which the actress said, “Well, yes, I was approached for this project. I had got a call from his office. It wasn’t him, but his secretary who was talking to me. I didn’t quite understand exactly about my contribution in this project. I was told that there is some dance sequence. I didn’t see any meat in what was being offered. I mean I am open to the idea of a comeback. But I will be coming back on screen after 45 years and I want to surprise my audience and make them feel that I can still act. I was also approached for two films recently, but I turned them down too. Woh aandar se ek feeling aani chahiye na… bass woh nahi aa rahi thi in these projects (I’m not getting a feeling from within to take up these projects). So, I said no. I am just waiting for an outstanding project to come my way. Rest I don’t know where my husband’s angle has come in from. He shouldn’t have any problem.”
SLB's web series, ‘Heeramandi’, a district of Lahore in pre-Independence India, will be released on Netflix and will show stories of courtesans and the hidden cultural realities of Heeramandi. Actors Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, and Aditi Rao Hydari are said to be in the film.