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If you have ever worked in an office, you would know that some bosses are always surrounded by an army of minions. The said bosses often act like they know it all, no one really questions their bad calls and when something goes awry, they tend to throw one of their little minions under the bus without taking any blame for it. These are also the people whose kids are treated like royalty in this little universe by the minions, just so they can stay in the good books of those in power. The kids are praised for their mediocre artwork and applauded when they win a participation trophy, because why would the minions not gain some brownie points without much effort? This is probably how we ended up with The Ba***ds of Bollywood! I mean, who would want to tell Shah Rukh, when he is in the best phase of his career, that his son Aryan probably needs to go back to the drawing board.
Amid all the noise on social media about Ba***ds of Bollywood, you can’t help but wonder if the show would have gotten the same response if it wasn’t backed by Shah Rukh Khan, directed and created by his son, or if, it would have even gotten green-lit if SRK hadn’t pulled in all the favours that he could for the longest list of cameos since Om Shanti Om.
In the Indian streaming space, there is no room for nuanced conversation. Things either go ‘viral’ and everyone just assumes it’s because the audience loves it, or they end up being roasted mercilessly (like Nadaaniyan, or that performance by Sharmin Segal in Heeramandi). And if Karan Johar’s words are to be believed, it isn’t that hard to make something appear like a hit, no matter what the audience really thinks about it. So where does that leave us with Ba***ds of Bollywood? Is it really the show that has created a milestone in the streaming space? Certainly not. Is it even the best show to have released in India in 2025? Not really. So what is it about The Ba***ds of Bollywood that is making it trend on social media? It’s the love for Daddy dearest, King Khan.
The Studio, which has to be one of the funniest and most well made shows of all time, just won 13 Emmys, but India is having its moment with a show where the Mumbai skyline and the streets of Delhi are all shot inside a studio, a show where a car racing sequence feels like it’s out of a vintage video game, and the last two episodes lose the plot in a way that you can’t even wrap your head around it. When The Ba***ds of Bollywood was announced, it was assumed to be an Entourage equivalent for Bollywood. The plot was a faint reminder of Zoya Akhtar’s Luck By Chance, set in the world of Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om. But, little did anyone know that the closest comparison of this show would be a show called Showtime, which starred Emraan Hashmi, and was made by Karan Johar just last year.
Despite the comparisons, Ba***ds of Bollywood is a bigger ‘viral’ hit than any of the films/shows mentioned above and has been discussed widely on Reddit and other social media platforms, and all this while, the conversation has gently been steered away from the N-word that hijacked Shah Rukh’s daughter’s film two years ago. Aryan Khan could have become the poster child of the nepokid brigade but the puppet masters behind the show have been extremely careful in creating a conversation where the N-word doesn’t come in Aryan’s way.
The cast members are exclusively ‘outsiders’ and some of them have even been collateral damage to certain nepo-kids in the past. Sahher Bambba made her debut in 2019’s Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas which launched Sunny Deol’s son Karan, and was directed by Sunny himself. Some of the promotional interviews of that film had the interviewers struggling to make conversation with her, while they chatted away with Sunny and Karan. Anya Singh made her debut in 2017’s Qaidi Band, which was the launch vehicle for Raj Kapoor’s grandson Aadar Jain. Aadar and Anya were launched in a grand fashion by YRF where Ranbir Kapoor announced his cousin’s arrival at the movies. Both these films bombed, and the ‘outsiders’ were left to fend for themselves.
Lakshya has been Dharma Productions’ poster boy for ‘we don’t discriminate with outsiders’ ever since they first announced Dostana 2 and Bedhadak, and later, shelved them both. And Raghav’s rise can be chronicled by anyone who has been watching reality television in the last decade. These actors, along with the likes of Manoj Pahwa, Manish Chaudhary, and the new and improved Bobby Deol, created a shield for any ‘nepo’ accusations that might have come Aryan’s way.
The show also gets some protection from Shah Rukh’s journey – from being a regular Delhi boy to being the ‘Badshah of Bollywood’, as it models its protagonist’s story arc roughly in the same fashion. It is humanly impossible to criticise a self-made man’s applause-worthy journey, even when his son decides to milk it 30 years later.
There has been a lot of conversation about how Bads of Bollywood seems to be ‘taking a dig’ on all things Bollywood. There are references to nepo vs outsider spats on roundtables, #MeToo allegations that don’t change a thing, Bollywood mafia which cares for commerce over art, and real mafia that once had deep connections in the industry. But this isn’t the first time that we have seen this kind of humour. In fact, one can argue that watching Ba***ds of Bollywood reminds you of the time when AIB had a sketch on the inner workings of Bollywood every other week, which were way funnier than this. Like the Sameer Wankhede-lookalike skit was definitely an AIB moment.
In fact, it’s pretty hilarious that in a show where mediatrials are manufactured to target someone (like the ongoing Ranbir Kapoor vaping controversy), and nepo kids are given platforms even before they have anything to talk about (like Suhana Khan’s 2018 Vogue cover), Bollywood awards are taken seriously. Even our 80-year old grand mums know that these award shows don’t mean much anymore but Ba***ds of Bollywood wants us to go with it, all for that one Shah Rukh moment.
Shah Rukh Khan is not the first star to launch his son at the movies. There have been many before him who have pumped obscene amounts of money to give their son/daughter a platform so they can have a glorious start. These stars have also used their platform to say all the good things in the world about their kid, but no one can be certain if any of this would work. With The Ba***ds of Bollywood, SRK chose the right platform, the right strategy, and the right partners and cast members so Aryan can have a dream debut. Because the debut of a well-known starkid has less to do with the quality of their performance, but more to do with their perception, and that was perfectly managed here.
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