Yet Another Misinterpretation of History by Sanjay Leela Bhansali

“All this culture shown is Lucknow and Delhi culture, this has nothing to do with the Punjab culture of Lahore,” says Yousuf Salahuddin, a philanthropist and former politician from Lahore, Pakistan.

Another point that was widely criticized by the viewers is the strong presence of Urdu language and accent while completely ignoring the fact that Punjabi was the language that was spoken in Lahore.

“Sure, there were Muslim poets from Punjab that would write in Urdu however, this language and accent used in the series isn’t from Lahore. Especially, language from the market was Punjabi,” he adds.  

Sharma questions the misrepresentation of Lahore in the series and says that Bhansali has not shown Heera Mandi or Lahore from the 1920s or 30s.

The very famous and loved song, Sakal Ban, written by Amir Khusrau, an Indo-Persian Sufi singer and poet was also given an Urdu spin in this Netflix show.

Sharma explains how the line in the song ‘Nijamuddin ke darwaje par’ has a composition in khadi boli, the language of the people, but it has been given a Urdu touch and replaced with ‘Nizamuddin ke darwaze par’.

As per Salahuddin, Basant in Lahore is not celebrated like shown in the series in the first episode. “In Lahore, it was all to do with kite flying and never related to just dancing or performances,” he adds.

Bhansali replaced the word ‘accuracy’ with ‘exaggeration’ when it came to courtesans – their attire, attitude and status.

Although the courtesans were not a part of the elite society, they surely obtained respect and admiration from them.

Author Pran Nevile describes a tawaif in his book, Nautch Girls of The Raj (2009) as “not merely a woman of pleasure but an accomplished and a refined person with dance and poetry in her blood.”