This story belongs to the Fortune India Magazine June 2025 issue.
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WHEN SANJAY LEELA BHANSALI ventured into streaming with Netflix’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, the ₹200-crore spectacle was a showcase of grandeur, set design, evocative music, and powerful storytelling. Set in pre-independence Lahore, the eight-episode series delved into the emotional conflicts and tragedy underneath the glamourous lives of the courtesans.
Its success was, however, global — it featured in Netflix’s Top 10 non-English shows for six straight weeks across 43 countries, garnering over 15 million views. Even Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos hailed it as the platform’s best-performing Indian original. And while Heeramandi was an outlier, others, including films Laapataa Ladies and The Diplomat, and series The Royals, also made it to Netflix’s global Top 10.