'Over a span of three years, our entire studio was devoted to Heeramandi.'
One of the many things you cannot take your eyes off when you look at the visuals of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Web series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is well, the diamonds!
The jewellery is among the highlights of the opulent series, and it is the work of Shri Paramani Jewels, who had earlier designed Deepika Padukone's royal jewels for Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani.
"Heeramandi was special as each piece was envisioned for the characters and they were fabulous in their own way," Vinay Gupta, founder of Shri Paramani Jewels, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Rajul Hegde.
"There was a joy of going back to my roots and legacy of belonging to a family of treasurers for the Mughals over 200 years ago. I went through several archival designs from our museum, books and family tree," Vinay says.
"The challenging part was to design the number of pieces in a given time. But again, this is my forte, so that made it easier. We have used a lot of basra and natural pearls to show the opulence of the tawaifs."
"Sanjay sir was involved in selecting the jewellery from day one. First, he visited our showroom in Delhi and explored our collection. He was fascinated by the exquisite basra pearls adorning in pieces like the tika, nath and necklaces. To see a man of that stature being so dedicated in each piece was an experience in itself."
How many pieces of jewellery were used in the series?
"More than 10,000 pieces and 300 kilos of jewellery were crafted for the series," he says.
"The major portions were made in gold. Some of it was made in silver with 24 carat gold plated and intricate workmanship," Vinay says.
"We have used different kinds of naths, passa, tika and Victorian naths. We had to customise passas for the six heroines.
"This quantum of jewellery has never been used for the series. Over a span of three years, our entire studio was devoted to this series. We have taken two-three months to create each piece. My team was working day and night. We had a deadline for each piece, so it was extensive work."
The jewellery was safeguarded on set by security guards.
"I just kept my fingers crossed and kept making the jewellery," Vinay says.
He does not want to disclose the value of the jewellery, but admits, "The amount is huge! We have used all our stuff. My wife Anshu and I have worked really hard for this project."
Bajirao Mastani was Vinay's first Bollywood project.
"It was the game changer for us. Later, we collaborated on Made in Heaven Season 2, Murder Mubarak and Thank You for Coming. Actresses have worn our jewellery on many occasions, but Heeramandi was special as each piece was envisioned for the characters and they were fabulous in their own way."
Which is Bhansali's favourite piece?
"Sanjay sir especially liked a patri haar and peacock necklace. In fact, there was a holdali piece that he instantly called for. It was a rare piece encrusted with Burma rubies and rose cut diamonds. The workmanship is excellent. I procured it from a family for him, but the rest of the pieces were made by us," he says.
Vinay discusses the jewellery worn by the women in Heeramandi.
Manisha Koirala wears a Patri haar. It has Burma rubies and fine quality pearls. The jewellery includes a peacock-shaped necklace, a choker, jhumar and haat phool.
Sonakshi Sinha wears a fine choker chandbali set, haat phool with tika and jhumar.
Aditi Rao Hydari wears a layered necklace with polki, jhumar and tika with fine emeralds, a passa with fine pearls, and haat phool and bracelets.
Richa Chadha also wears layered necklaces.
Sharmin Sehgal wears a lot of heavy jewellery. We have done different types of feet ornament, haat phool, heavy chokers, tikas and naths.
Sanjeeda Sheikh wears heavy chokers with tikas and naths.
A closer look at Aditi's jewellery in Heeramandi
A closer look at Manisha's jewellery in Heeramandi.
A closer look at Richa's jewellery in Heeramandi.
A closer look at Sonakshi's jewellery in Heeramandi.
A closer look at Sharmin's jewellery in Heeramandi.
A closer look at Sanjeeda's jewellery in Heeramandi.
