May 7, 2024, 01:16 PM IST

6 best portrayals of tawaifs in Bollywood before Heeramandi

Abhimanyu Mathur

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi has brought tawaifs (courtesans) back to the screens

Over the years, Indian shows and films have featured many portrayals of courtesans

And while reactions to Heeramandi have been mixed, many others have been praised

Pakeezah presented a more realistic unfiltered view of a courtesan's life with a memorale performance from Meena Kumari

Rekha in Umrao Jaan is often cited as the definitive example of how to tell the tragic tales of tawaifs

Neena Gupta gave a heartwrenching performance as a lonely courtesan in Gulzar's TV show Mirza Ghalib

Many feel that Madhuri Dixit's Chandramukhi in Devdas even surpassed Vyjanthimala's rendition from the 1955 classic

Vidya Balan's realistic depiction of a courtesan troubled by Partition in Begum Jaan was praised

In Mira Nair's Netflix series A Suitable Boy, Tabu won acclaim for a mature take on a tawaif in love

Next: 5 films Rekha lost to other actresses