"I did put in a lot of hard work."
Sharmin Segal addressed the criticism directed towards her for her performance in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (2024).
The Netflix series was created and directed by her uncle Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
In the show, Sharmin played Alamzeb – the youngest daughter of Mallikajaan (Manisha Koirala).
Breaking her silence on the criticism, Sharmin Segal said: “Every creative person creates for an audience.
“They are a very important part in a creator’s journey, in a creator’s life because they also help you grow.
“With negativity comes positivity. You have to take it all in, figure it out accordingly, and what resonates with you and what doesn’t resonate with you.
“[Alamzeb] is quiet, she is nuanced, she is innocent.
“She is vulnerable to that degree, and I think it stands out a little differently because she is not a tawaif.
“So that I think is an important part of the character and how me as an actor and Sanjay sir as the director interpreted the character.
“I did put in a lot of hard work and at the end of the day I gave it my all.
“But I gave it my all eventually to give it to my audience and they do have the right to voice their opinions, and, in the world, we live in today it’s very easy and accessible to voice your opinion.”
Sharmin Segal also spoke about her mental health and how that intertwined with the show.
She explained: “I’ve been working on my mental health for a very long time in my life now.
“It is just not throughout my acting life. It is something when you start understanding yourself better.
“It becomes a lot easier to realise that you live in a very vast world where people with a lot of opinions.
“I’ve chosen this profession to cater to an audience, so I was prepared for reactions and responses and there has been so much love also.
“Sometimes looking at the negativity, we tend to completely omit the positivity.
“Maybe the first few days it did. I just felt a little like uneasy, but after that, it’s always a constant dialogue with yourself.
“You have thoughts, and then you think about those thoughts, judge, and that is what shapes morality and ethics.
“I can’t suddenly fixate on somebody that has taken their time out to write negative things about me.
“If it’s constructive, then yes I am very open to listening to it.
“But if it’s not, then you’ve to focus on the amount of love. My DMs are filled with a lot of love.
“Negativity tends to be spoken about a lot more in public because people want to talk about negative things, but there is a lot of positivity also like I need to embrace that as well.”
Sharmin’s Heeramandi co-star Jason Shah (Alastair Cartwright) spoke about how he felt sorry for Sharmin in the wake of the criticism.
Jason said:
“I have heard a lot about this, honestly, I feel a bit sorry for her.”
“In certain scenes to me, it felt like something needs to happen, but it is a different kind of role.”
Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar premiered on Netflix on May 1, 2024.
The criticism Sharmin Segal received led her to disable comments on her social media accounts.
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