Jason Shah on filming Manisha Koirala’s sexual abuse scene in Heeramandi

If you’ve watched Heeramandi: The Diamon Bazaar on Netflix India, it’d have been disturbing to watch the scene entailing the sexual abuse of Manisha Koirala’s character Mallikajan. In an interview with Filmibeat OTT, British-Indian actor Jason Shah opens up on filming the scene.

What Jason said
“I was hesitant. The fighter master wanted me slap her in a more realistic manner but I was very careful, I was watching my actions. I even flicked her nose ring off in one scene, it got that close. That’s what I was telling the fight master that if we are not in coordination, I might end up hurting her, and obviously, she is an older woman, so it is my responsibility and I had to take care,” said Jason. The 36-year-old actor has previously appeared in Thugs of Hindostan and Salaar. He was also a wild-card contestant in Bigg Boss 10.

Earlier, in an interview with Bollywood Bubble, Manisha had talked about her experience of shooting Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut show, including an odd intimate scene with Shekhar Suman. She revealed that it wasn’t part of the script. “See, every little thing Sanjay does, he tries to bring in a new element that we hadn’t thought of, and he does it. So even about this scene, when rehearsals were going on, it must have been new,” she said.

About Heeramandi
Set against the backdrop of the Indian freedom struggle of the 1940s, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is an epic saga of love, power, revenge, and freedom. Through the stories of courtesans and their patrons, the series delves deep into the cultural reality of Heeramandi, a locality in Lahore.

Sonakshi Sinha, Fardeen Khan, Aditi Rao Hydari,Richa Chadha, Manisha Koirala, Sharmin Segal, Taha Shah Badussha, and Adhyayan Suman are also a part of Heeramandi. The show became the most viewed Indian series in its first week on Netflix. It also made it to the Top 2 on the non-English TV list and is currently trending in the Top 10 of 43 countries.