Aryan Khan has taken his first official steps in showbiz – but behind the camera rather than in front of it. Shah Rukh Khan’s son makes his debut as the creator, director and co-writer of The Ba***ds of Bollywood, a show that keeps you guessing about the meaning behind the asterisks in the title.

In the Netflix series, actor Aasmaan (Lakshya), fresh from a box-office hit, finds himself in high demand. Producer Freddy (Manish Chaudhuri) wants him. Karan Johar (playing himself) wants him. So does aspiring actor Karishma (Sahher Bambba) – as a boyfriend. Only the movie star Ajay (Bobby Deol), who happens to be Karishma’s father, is wary of Aasmaan.

Aasmaan’s posse include his best friend Parvaiz (Raghav Juyal) and his hard-working manager Sanya (Anya Singh). Hot-tempered and forever in danger of becoming a tabloid item, Aasmaan is grounded by his mother Neeta (Mona Singh) and father Rajat (Vijayant Kohli).

A sub-plot revolves around Aasmaan’s uncle Avtar (Manoj Pahwa), who has showbiz dreams of his own. Rajat Bedi plays the flop actor Jaraj, who badly wants to be back in the game.

Apart from the criss-crossing plot strands, there are de rigueur cameos, ranging from Shah Rukh Khan to Salman Khan. Aamir Khan and SS Rajamouli turn up in a spoofy scene that suggests that fans need to dial down their expectations from so-called legends.

Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao pretend to reveal the true selves lurking behind fake smiles. Karan Johar hands out a marketing plan along with a script (“Pose for the paps!”)

A few plot points are similar to the JioHotstar series Showtime, produced by Johar and led by Emraan Hashmi. In The Ba***ds of Bollywood, Hashmi has a superb cameo as an intimacy coach – the most inspired deployment of his screen image yet.

The Ba***ds of Bollywood is overstretched and unwieldy, with surprisingly chintzy production design and awkwardly staged scenes. But Aryan Khan and co-creators Bilal Siddiqui and Manav Chauhan are aware of the lure of the Hindi film industry as well as its more ridiculous aspects. As a result, the show maintains an overall balance between mild sneering and affection, both laughing at and along with its overwrought characters.

The seven-episode series acknowledges badly behaved actors, nepotism and the cynicism that underpins creative decisions. The debate about nepotism yields the most daring twist, which sends up the idea that everyone in the Hindi film industry is related to everyone else.

There’s a fleeting mention of an over-zealous government official who is convinced that the industry is seething with drug users. No in-joke is left untouched – Arshad Warsi plays a gangster who wants to turn producer, because why not?

While the plot revolves largely around Aasmaan’s quest for stardom, the more noteworthy arcs belong to the characters played by Bobby Deol, Manish Chaudhuri, Anya Singh, Raghav Juyal, Rajat Bedi and Mona Singh. Rajat Bedi, in particular, has great fun hamming away as the desperate and pathetic Jaraj. Bobby Deol takes Ajay very seriously with the correct amount of cheekiness.

The scattershot satire has its fair share of comic moments and sparkling cameos. One of the ultimate Bollywood insiders delivers a take that isn’t entirely fresh or imaginative, but is amusing and knowing enough to suggest a measure of distance from the whole showbiz shebang.

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting