in defence of Lajjo, our delulu queen...💔 | recap & analysis of Ep. 2 of Heeramandi on Netflix

Hey guys ✨ In this video, I recap and analyze episode 2 of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi on Netflix. The title of the episode is "Fareedanjaan: The Challenger Returns" but I truly feel like the title should have been, Lajjo's Last Dance!

The reason for this is because this episode belonged to Richa Chadha and her brilliant portrayal of a hopeless and heartbroken woman. A tawaif whose dignity we see chipping away through every scene, culminating in her performing a mujra at the wedding of the man she loves. This episode is my choice as the best episode of the whole series, and that has a lot to do with Richa Chadha's performance.

I have incorporated various interviews in this video, because I felt like Richa Chadha explains her process so well. Her understanding and empathy for her character was clear. She also shares THAT story of her having to do 99 takes and how the "tragedy queen" of Bollywood played a role in shaping Lajjo, i.e Meena Kumari.

Lajjo is truly a representation of the famed "Bollywood Tawaif" or "Movie Mujra" - a product of Indian cinema alone. I discuss why the Bollywood tawaif played an important part for the filmmaker of the past. Bollywood Tawaifs like Sahibjaan of Pakeezah and Chandramukhi of Devdas are also mentioned.

At the end of this video, I recommend at book of poetry by Meena Kumari herself! I share a poem by Meena Kumari that is very "Lajjo-coded" and consider the type of poetry that Meena Kumari wrote.

Watch my recap and analysis of episode 1 of Heeramandi on Netflix, here:

   • We need to talk about Heeramandi 😩 .....  

Did you guys enjoy this episode? What were your thoughts on Lajjo? Were you sad that she met such a tragic end or was her story a perfect ode to the Tawaifs of Bollywood that came before her? Let me know your thoughts in the Comments below!

Thank you for watching and as always, thanks for being here!

°°° also guys please note that there is 1 part of this video that was cut out due to YouTube copyright restrictions - I felt like I could go ahead without these clips, as I explain them further during the video anyway - - - sorry for the lack of continuity at that point! TRUST IT ANNOYS ME AS WELL 😩😫°°°

#heeramandi #richachadha #sanjayleelabhansali

timestamps
intro - 00:00 - 05:18
part 1 the story so far - 05:30
part 2 miss lajjo - 07:26
part 3 lajjo's last dance - 14:03
part 4 lajjo & meena kumari - 22:51
meena kumari's poetry - 25:00