Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar follows the conniving, scheming, and influential courtesans of the titular area, as rebellion brews in a 1920s British-ruled India. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The madam and owner of the Shahi Mahal, an elite house of courtesans in Heeramandi, Mallikajaan seeks to make her youngest daughter Alamzeb the next madam, or “huzoor” of the house.
However, Alam dreams of becoming a poetess, and Mallika’s younger sister Waheeda has been a constant pit of venom by her side, with her own ambitions, and now the daughter of her elder sister Rehana, whom Mallika killed herself, has returned to take what’s hers.
Alam falls in love with Tajdar, the son of Nawab Ashfaq Baloch, and he falls in love with her. Rehana’s daughter, Fareedan sees this budding romance as a tool to exact her revenge on Mallika and becomes a catalyst for this love story.
Waheeda switches sides, and Fareedan also joins hands with Officer Alastair Cartwright, another enemy of Mallika’s. They try to take Mallika down by getting her for the murder of Rehana, but she also gains leverage against Fareedan, which causes a truce.
Alam leaves Heeramandi to be with Tajdar, and after his change of tune as misunderstandings are confronted, the two fall for each other again, this time harder and better. However, his rebellion efforts are exposed and a conflict of loyalty separates him from his love momentarily.
That is, until, they are arranged to be married. Tragedy strikes again, and the pregnant Alam becomes a widow before she can even marry her love. Cartwright’s barbarism against Tajdar and Mallikajaan earns all courtesans’ fury.
Generational rivalry and revenge are put aside, as each and every courtesan and nautch girl of Heeramandi marches to the tune of rebellion, as Mallika’s elder daughter Bibbo makes the greatest patriotic sacrifice.
Ending explained:
A rivalry put on hold
Fareedan wanted Mallikajaan’s utter destruction as her revenge, so she joined hands with Cartwright, but when she finds out that he and his men raped Mallika, rendering her physically and mentally broken, guilt overwhelms her.
Soon, Cartwright is given Tajdar’s custody by his own father, in an effort to cancel his son’s marriage to Alam, which he disapproves of. The torture of Tajdar at his orders ends up killing him.
Fareedan and Mallikajaan agree to call a truce and put their differences aside to oppose the British, the Nawabs, and the police. Meanwhile, Waheeda stands alongside her sister as well. Together, they all suffer beatings as they march towards Bibbo’s execution spot.
A rebellion in Heeramandi
Meanwhile, Bibbo becomes even more involved in the rebellion and accompanies Hamid during the attack on Henderson. She shoots the Brit herself, and while Hamid meets martyrdom, she is arrested.
In the wake of the rebellious air sweeping all of Heeramandi, the cowardly Nawabs boycott it and crawl back to the safety of their palaces. This leaves all the courtesans alone in their affront against the British.
They stand together, tall, and proud, inspired by each other and the martyrs. Bibbo becomes a martyr as she’s executed and until her last breath, she calls for India’s freedom, matched in her slogans by her sisters of Heeramandi.
Revenge on the ravenous
While Fareedan puts on hold her moves to take revenge on Mallika and snatch away from her the keys to Shahi Mahal, other courtesans need to see through their revenge against the filthy men in power.
For Henderson, the rebels are led by Bibbo, who takes the initiative and executes the encounter with the high-ranking British officer herself. She is arrested and later killed for it, but she has no regrets for her fight for freedom.
Cartwright’s debauchery knows no bounds. At first, he rapes Mallikajaan and later, he wants to malign his daughter, Alamzeb. Ustad ideates the perfect revenge plan for Alam, and bait Cartwright into thinking he’d buy a night with her.
As he begins invading her modesty, it doesn’t last long until he backs out and falls down on the ground, bleeding from the gunshot wound inflicted by the gun Alam just fired.
Alamzeb takes her revenge on the man responsible for so much hurt to her mother, her in-laws, and her unborn kids, as Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar rolls the credits.
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