Heeramandi Songwriter Demands 'Respect', Accuses Actors of 'Stealing Limelight': 'In Our Industry...'

Heeramandi songwriter AM Turaz has expressed his disappointment with the actor of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s show. In a recent interview, Turaz accused the actors of stealing the limelight and questioned them for not giving any credit to the technicians who work tirelessly behind the scenes day and night.

“If actors let the creators of the songs speak… The creators are not getting the appreciation that they deserve,” Turaz told Bollywood Now. The songwriter demanded respect for writers and urged the actors to speak about them also in their interviews. “Until the actors stop hogging all the limelight, you can’t create good things,” he said and then added, “Why did you work with them (directors, writers)? You write it yourself, who is telling you not to? You should credit them because not naming them is like snatching their credit away. And it is unfair.”

The songwriter further claimed that the writers in Bollywood aren’t paid well, which affects their creativity. “In our industry, all the credit and the appreciation and the money is taken by them (actors). Because the creators are not given enough (credit and money), it affects their creativity and their next project suffers. When the creation is bad, the performances are also bad,” he said.

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Farida Jalal, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar Suman and Adhyayan Suman in key roles. It explores the various aspects of a woman’s trials and tribulations.

When Sanjay Leela Bhansali Said Actors ‘Hijack’ a Project

Previously, in an interview with Galatta Plus, Bhansali also said that actors tend to “hijack” a project when he said, “A performance does not belong to an actor. A good performance belongs to a director, dialogue writer, cinematographer, art director, costume designer, choreographer, editor, the guy who has painted the wall behind you. You are saying ‘my performance’, but you are never saying that these people are responsible for my performance. Everything is suddenly hijacked by the actor, which is where the problem in Indian cinema is.”

Heeramandi is currently streaming on Netflix.