Netflix is returning Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s epic, "Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar", for a second season, the streamer said in Mumbai this afternoon.

Netflix said ahead of the premiere of the eight-episode season one from Bhansali Productions that the show was its biggest Indian original to date. 

The streamer has not confirmed the budget. According to national daily, The Times of India, "Heeramandi’s" budget was Rs200 crore/US$24 million, with Bhansali’s directing fee estimated at between Rs 60 crore/US$7.2 million and Rs70 crore/US$8.4 million.

Season two production/release details have not been confirmed, and no storyline or cast hints were included in today’s announcement. 

"Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar" season one is set in pre-independence India against a burgeoning freedom movement, where the final thread holding the art of courtesans is put to the test.

Season one stars Manisha Koirala as Mallikajaan, who rules over an elite house of courtesans, fearing no one… until the return of Fareedan (played by Sonakshi Sinha) heralds an epic battle for the position as head of "Heeramandi".

The epic series was released on 1 May, and swiftly became the platform’s most-watched series in India and nine other countries, primarily in South Asia.

The series topped Netflix’s India TV rankings for the four weeks to 26 May, with positions on the non-English TV top 10 in 43 countries for its first week on air. 

"Heeramandi" reached #2 on the global non-English top 10 for the weeks to 5 May (4.5 million views / 33 million hours viewed) and 12 May (4 million views / 29.3 million hours viewed), falling to #5 in its third week on the platform (2.4 million views / 17.3 hours viewed) and #7 in the latest week (1.5 million views / 11.3 million hours viewed). 

For the week to 26 May, "Heeramandi" was on the top 10 in 14 countries, and #1 in three – India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This was down from 17 countries the previous week. 

Critics’ opinions ranged wide, from rave to rotten. 

Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus was: “Ostensibly a feminist epic, "Heeramandi’s" lavish production design and sprawling cast are hampered by rote pacing and a grim treatment of its characters.” 

Giving the series 2.5 out of 5 stars, The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta said “Bhansali and his brand of youthful heartbreak has always been a strong point of his narratives, but here, it’s when the older women are in full flow, opening up their hard-won chest of wiles and wanton-ness, that it earns its histrionics, and makes you stay”.

Fellow reviewer, Rohan Naahar, also in The Indian Express, didn’t agree, calling the series “exploitation cinema” and describing the show as “humourless and ultimately hollow”. He also said it offered “plenty of palace intrigue, historical drama, and unchecked opulence, all filtered through Bhansali’s signature brand of elevated B-grade storytelling”.

The Federal’s Poulomi Das didn’t hold back either, labelling Bhansali as a “filmmaker far more comfortable in depicting the illusion of women’s strength rather than a display of it”. 

The Times of India’s Dhaval Roy was more generous with his 3.5 ratings, saying the series “dazzled with stellar performances and visual grandeur... In his OTT debut, which is nothing short of grand, Sanjay Leela Bhansali skilfully immerses viewers in a saga of love, rivalry, betrayal, power play, and revolution”. 

The Financial Express called the series a “glittering gem in Indian cinema’s crown”. Reviewer Eshita Bhargava said “Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar" stands as a testament to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s prowess as a storyteller, offering viewers a rich tapestry of human experiences against the backdrop of a bygone era”.