Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar' released on May 1 and has been receiving massive responses from the audience. 

Whereas one section displayed their admiration for the series, some have pointed out the issues they felt were present with regard to some historical inaccuracies.
  
Amidst this, several pointed out that Sharmin Segal, who also comes out as the niece of the filmmaker wasn't fit for her role and couldn't match the performance of her co-stars which included Manisha Koirala, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari and Sanjeeda Sheikh.

Now, the filmmaker himself addressed the casting and said that he felt Sharmin was the right choice and that has been the reason for casting her.
  
He said, “She has a face which is exactly what Alamzeb should be, somebody who doesn’t want to be a tawaif, she doesn’t talk like a tawaif, she doesn’t walk like a tawaif. Her face had innocence, whereas all the others had lived life, they had survived manipulation and mental games. You needed somebody with a fresh, innocent quality to her… I felt that Sharmin was the right choice for Alam not because she’s my niece.”

Further adding, “She had to go through the grind. There were an innumerable number of tests, auditions. There’s no end to the number of tests I’ve done with her, after I’ve decided to cast her. I told her, ‘You have to go through the grind, you have to get it right, because this world you’ve never been to, you’ve never acted in. All these other actors have worked over a period of time, they’ve played characters like this and have understood all these nakhras and thumkas and the nazakat…'”

Source: India Today