One of the most expensive Indian TV shows to be made, know who among the leading ladies of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha and Sanjeeda Sheikh, took the biggest cheque for their performance in the lead roles.

An Indian business website unveiled the budget and the cast’s fees of SLB’s OTT debut ‘Heeramandi’ in an exclusive report. Read on to know who was the highest-paid actor in the ensemble cast.

Reportedly, from the project’s massive budget of INR200 crore, the biggest share went to the veteran filmmaker himself, who charged INR60-70 crore to helm the series.

Among the six leading ladies, Sonakshi Sinha was paid the most, i.e. INR2 crore for her double role of Rehana and Fareedan, followed by Aditi Rao Hydari aka Bibbojaan, who took home INR1-1.5 crore.

Manish Koirala as the chief courtesan Mallikajaan and Richa Chadha as Lajjo, her foster daughter, were reportedly paid INR1 crore each.

Sanjeeda Sheikh as Waheeda and Sharmin Segal as Alamzeb were the lowest-paid of the lot and received payments of INR40 and 30 lacs respectively.

Fardeen Khan was paid INR75 lacs to essay Nawab Wali Bin Zayed-Al Mohammed.

Notably, veteran filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much-awaited digital debut ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, explores the ‘stories of courtesans’ living in the red light district of Lahore, during the pre-independent India.

The eight-episodic web series, starring Chadha, Segal, Hydari, Koirala, Sinha and Sheikh in main roles, along with Farida Jalal, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar and Adhyayan Suman, and Taha Shah, premiered on the streaming giant Netflix on May 1.

The series received mixed reviews from viewers and critics alike.