Who were the real courtesans at the heart of Netflix’s Heeramandi?

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. His new series for Netflix, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, lives up to these expectations. Against this visually rich backdrop emerge the scheming, menacing and murderous courtesans of Heeramandi.