For a filmmaker who painstakingly goes into every detail, from the chandeliers on the set to the costumes, one can only imagine the care with which Sanjay Leela Bhansali crafts his characters. With Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, as the auteur tells the story of Lahore’s six courtesans, the one character that stands out is Aditi Rao Hydari’s Bibbojaan—a complex mix of allure and defiance. The actor has the perfect way to describe her role. “Bibbojaan has the dreamy soul of Madhubala from Mughal-e-Azam [1960] and the fire of Joan of Arc,” she says. 

It was the character’s dichotomy that floored her. “Dichotomies make the character real, and as an actor, it gives me more to play with. Sanjay sir has written a layered character for Bibbojaan. Bibbo is celebrated for her beauty, dance and music, but she sacrifices it all, knowing that her courage may get no reward. She has a higher purpose. She uses her mind, beauty and privilege to further India’s freedom revolution.”