Sharmin Segal breaks silence on Heeramandi backlash: 'The audience is king

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s "Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar" premiered last month and remains a hot topic online. While most characters received praise, Sharmin Segal faced relentless criticism for her performance, with some calling her 'expressionless' and accusing her of being cold towards her co-stars.

The negativity escalated to the point where Sharmin had to disable comments on her social media accounts. Now, nearly a month later, Sharmin has addressed the ongoing criticism.

In a recent interview with News 18 Showsha, Sharmin acknowledged the audience's importance, calling them 'the king' and stressing how their feedback is crucial for a creative person. She remarked, “The audience is the king at the end of the day. And as a creative person, it’s very important to acknowledge that. They have a right to their opinion – positive or negative. That’s one thing that gives me perspective and allows me to be okay.”

Sharmin emphasized the effort she put into portraying her character, Alamzeb, in the show. She remains optimistic, choosing to focus on the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives. “I had given my all to Alamzeb’s character. We tend to fixate on the negatives, but there are so many positives that have also come along, which we don’t talk about. It’s perhaps not interesting enough to talk about positives, and we tend to look over them to some degree,” she shared.

Initially, Sharmin distanced herself from the discourse surrounding her performance after the show's release. Recently, she started reading the feedback and realized she was missing out on a lot of love and support. She expressed that her debut film being listed among the top ten shows following "Heeramandi’s" release was a pleasant surprise and an overall 'nice experience' to connect with a global audience.

"Heeramandi" also stars Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonakshi Sinha, and Taha Shah Badussha. The Netflix series premiered on May 1 and continues to engage viewers worldwide.