Heeramandi — Episode 1 “Mallikajaan – The Queen of Heeramandi” Recap & Review

Mallikajaan – The Queen of Heeramandi

Episode 1 of Heeramandi starts with Rehana selling off her younger sister – Mallika’s newborn baby. Mallika curses her sister for giving away her infant to a nobleman in exchange for some jewellery. She claims that Rehana will be ripped to shreds soon.

The episode then moves ahead in time to when Mallika is older and now the head courtesan of Shahi Mahal. A pimp named Ustaadji brings an Englishman to Mallikajaan’s court. The Englishman offers to record a courtesan named Bibbojaan’s songs to sell them abroad. Mallikajaan refuses the offer and kicks the two men out.

At the same time, Bibbojaan, Mallikajaan’s older daughter dances in Wali Mohammed’s court as a courtesan. Mallikajaan is spending the night with Nawab Zulfikar who tells her that the British are giving him an award, hoping he will join hands with them and betray his country. That night, Mallikajaan’s sister – Waheeda returns home.

Mallikajaan asks her minions to search through Waheeda’s clothes to make sure she is not hiding money. Waheeda throws a fit, blaming her sister for not trusting her. However, as it turns out, Waheeda had hidden some of her earnings from the night away for herself. The next morning,  Alamzeb, a poetess and Mallikajaan’s second daughter gets dressed to meet her.

Alamzeb takes the blame in place of her courtesan friend for breaking one of her mother’s pearl necklaces. She tells Mallikajaan that one of the pearls from the necklace was lost. Mallikajaan threatens to sell off the courtesan who broke the pearl necklace and asks Alamzeb to find the missing pearl if she wants to save her friend.

Alamzeb searches through the court and finds the pearl. She hands it over to Mallikajaan. That night, Mallikajaan asked Alamzeb if she was ready to make her debut as a courtesan. Alamzeb claims that she does not want to be a courtesan but Mallikajaan states that she was fated to be one and could not escape her fate.

The next day, Mallikajaan’s court celebrates Alamzeb’s initiation as a courtesan. Lajjwanti (Lajjo) shows up at Mallikajaan’s court and dances with the other courtesans. Later that day, Alamzeb tells Lajjo that she dreams of becoming a poet. Lajjo asks her to stop daydreaming about things that are beyond her control. Lajjo tells Alamzeb and Bibbojaan that she is soon going to marry a nobleman named Zorawar.

That night, a nobleman named Tajdar returns from Oxford University. His grandmother – Daadijaan introduces him to her friends and asks him to visit Heeramandi to learn the ropes of being a nobleman. Tajdar refuses to go to Heeramandi as he knows how women are treated at the place. He tells his father that he wants to be a lawyer in Bombay.

His father tells Tajdar that he needs to stay in Lahore and perform his duties as a nobleman. Meanwhile, Ustaadji asks Daadijaan to send Tajdar to Mallikajaan’s court as Alamzeb has just made her debut. The next day, a British police named Alastair Cartwright shows up at Mallikajaan’s court where Waheeda meets him. She tries to entice him but the officer is called inside the court to meet Mallika.

Cartwright asks one of Mallikajaan’s courtesans to dance for him at his house that night. Mallikajaan refuses to send her courtesans to a British officer’s house as she would never betray her country. Mallikajaan tells her minions that she has the power over Heeramandi. Cartwright takes the blow personally and calls Ustaadji to his house. He hooks up with Ustaadji and gets him to spill Mallikajaan’s deep and dark secrets.

The next day, Mallikajaan leaves to attend an event and asks Alamzeb to go with her. Alamzeb tells her mother she is not well and escapes the court to attend a poetry slam which turns out to be the same event that Mallikajaan is at. There, Alamzeb catches Tajdar’s eye. Alamzeb escapes the event before her mother can find her.

Daadijaan introduces Tajdar to Mallikajaan who asks him to come to Heeramandi the following day. Mallikajaan taunts Alamzeb for escaping the court. The chariot driver – Balli is worried about being punished for letting Alamzeb tag along on the ride back home from the poetry slam. The next morning, Mallikajaan punishes Alamzeb and tears up her poetry books for lying to her.

Alamzeb meets Bibbojaan and threatens to end her life. Bibbojaan, who is with Wali Mohammed, asks for some time to talk to Alamzeb. She calms Alamzeb down and goes back to meet Wali when she learns that the British Army is going to attack a bunch of freedom fighters who are protesting for the independence of India. Wali tells Bibbojaan that the British army has ordered a ‘shoot at sight’ which causes her to panic.

That afternoon, Bibbojaan takes Alamzeb to the library and gives her permission to buy some poetry books. Meanwhile, Bibbojaan takes advantage of the outing and meets Hamid, the leader of the freedom fighters. She tells him about the shoot-at-sight orders and asks him to use a gun on the British officers if they were to attack the freedom fighters.

Meanwhile, Alamzeb runs into Tajdar at the library and the two chat. Tajdar tries to flirt with Alamzeb but she feigns nonchalance. She leaves the library and waits for Bibbojaan outside. However, the protest grows wild with the British police officers attacking the protestors. Tajdar rushes outside to save Alamzeb from being attacked but ends up saving a protestor from being killed by an officer.

Just then, the British officer threatens to shoot Tajdar but Hamid shows up and shoots the officer instead. Tajdar manages to escape and goes to look for Alamzeb who is not where he left her. The episode ends with Tajdar finding Alamzeb’s handkerchief.

The Episode Review

Heeramandi is finally here and it looks just as grand and marvellous as one had imagined. Expect Sanjay Leela Bhansali to go all out with his projects. The first episode gives us an insight into the lives of the courtesans who worked in the Shahi Mahals in pre-Independence India. The way that Mallikajaan treats her daughters – Bibbojaan and Alamzeb – seems odd for a mother but she is taking on the role of a head courtesan.

Bibbojaan is hiding the fact that she is working with the freedom fighters from Mallikajaan and I wonder what she will do when she finds out the truth. It also looks like Alamzeb will have to hide the fact that she loves Tajdar as they grow closer with time. I am looking forward to seeing Sonakshi Sinha’s role in the show as we have barely seen anything about her character in this episode.