Veteran actress Mumtaz opened up for the first time about turning down Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. The role she was offered eventually went to her Koi Sehri Babu co-star, Farida Jalal, who played Qudsia Begum, the grandmother of Taha Shah Badussha's character in the series.
Mumtaz was being considered for a comeback after 35 years with the series, but she ultimately declined the offer. Explaining her decision, the actress told Bombay Times in an interview, "I love Sanjay. If you saw Heeramandi, it is a multi-starrer. There are many characters, and each has something to do. I felt what would I have done in that show? Sanjay was even open to making a few changes (in the script), he told me. I will die to work with Sanjay, but I want an important character."
'Uss character mein dum nahi tha'
The yesteryear star added, "I don't want to do a movie where every character is doing something, so the importance gets distributed. Itna dum nahi tha, uss character mein. He understood my point."
Reflecting on her long career and life away from the limelight, she stated, "I don't miss being in front of the camera. I started working at the age of seven as an extra. So, I was really tired. Yes, I do miss my colleagues. Bohot mazaa aata tha on set. I miss the people, and the fun times."
Meanwhile, on the work front, the 77-year-old actress was last seen in the 1990 film Aandhiyan as Shakuntala. She quit acting after getting married and had revealed that her 'conservative' family thought the Hindi film industry was 'evil' because of which she did not do any films after getting hitched.
Heeramandi also starred Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Sharmin Segal, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Fardeen Khan, Adhyayan Suman, Shekhar Suman, Pratibha Ranta, Jason Shah and others. It released in 2024.
