Adhyayan Suman Reveals Sanjay Leela Bhansali Had Initially Rejected Him For 'Heeramandi'

Interestingly, this marks the first collaboration between the father-son duo, Shekhar and Adhyayan. Shekhar portrays Zulfiqar Ahmed, an authoritative figure whose presence exudes power with Adhyayan embodying Zorawar Ali Khan, a wealthy and arrogant nawab whose decisions are driven solely by self-interest.

In a conversation with News18 Showsha, Adhyayan Suman revealed that he would be taking on not one but two roles; he would also be playing Zulfiqar Ahmed’s younger version. He called working with his father “a dream.”

But more importantly, he shared light on his journey of how he bagged the role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s grand project. He revealed that he got the call from the casting director while he was travelling somewhere in the Himalayas and he made an audition clip while he was sitting inside the car. “I begged, borrowed and stole some network from people and sent the tape. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the role. To be honest, if I had auditioned and not gotten the part in any other filmmaker’s film or series, I would just let it pass. But this was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s show and it’s every actor’s dream to work with him.” He went on to express his disappointment of not getting through.

However, fate intervened, eventually leading him to become part of the series. The actor initially chosen to play his character was dropped at the last minute, opening the door for the rising actor to step into the role. Adhyayan went on to say, “The shoot of ‘Heeramandi’ started with the other characters. Two days before they were supposed to start shoot with the actor who was supposed to play Zorawar, he was suddenly asked to leave and I was brought in. It’s just outstanding how it all happened.”

‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’ also stars Sharmin Segal, Manisha Koirala, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sonakshi Sinha. It’s set to release on Netflix on May 1.