The Ba***ds of Bollywood review: Aryan Khan’s show is not self-aware, and not fun enough

But those are fleeting, and when it comes to the structure beneath, in which there are actors playing at becoming actors who want to become stars, it sinks into familiarity. We’ve seen that part a bunch of times before, when movie makers make movies about stars and starry ecosystems which act as gatekeepers to brash new comers, lightly or heavily fictionalising some parts, depending upon who they want to dump on. Just recently, there’s been Amazon’s ‘Jubilee’, in which Vikramaditya Motwane harked back to the beginnings of the film industry, Hotstar’s ‘Showtime’ which is about much more recent times, not to speak of Apple’s ‘The Studio’, which is a Hollywood-on-Hollywood show which has just swept the Emmys.

As expected, hot-button topics are touched upon. Right in the first episode, the N word is brought up (nepotism, nepo kids). Given that the ‘Kill Boys’ Lakshya and Raghav Juyal are playing besties here takes the sting right out of the n-discourse, which is clearly the intention: look ma, we give lead roles to ‘outsiders’ too. The guy who busted Aryan in a spurious drug case is shown up as a caricature, but the bit-part actor’s ‘mujhe drugs do’ act, rightfully terrible, doesn’t have the kind of charge that I thought it would. Nor does the whole tamasha around ‘sold-out critics’: it starts off well, and then peters off.

Bobby Deol, riding on his Animal success, gets to play bonafide legacy star Ajay Talvar, and the ultra-watchful daddy of wanna-be star Karishma (Sahher Bhambba). Her growing closeness to rising star Aasman Singh (Lakshya) is a problem. So are campy cigar-chomping producer Freddy Sodawalah’s (Manish Chaudhari) attempts at keeping his sinking studio afloat, by landing low blows at his old-and-new associates, which includes both Ajay and Aasman. Rajat Bedi plays the never-say-die guy who keeps crashing the party despite getting thrown off sets : now who could the real-life equivalent be? Emraan Khan comes on as an ‘intimacy co-ordinator’ to teach the kids to be all right while being up close and personal: and Juyal’s wet-eyed musical tribute as soon as he sets eyes on his hero cracks of you up. And there’s a twist in the end –‘fess up, all those who didn’t see it coming — which is filmi enough to act as a flag-bearer for the whole show.

Some of these elemen

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Some of these elements land, essentially because of the performances: Manoj Pahwa is wonderful, as always, as is Mona Singh; the three youngsters do their job well, as does Aasman’s spunky manager, played by Aanya Singh. But several others, especially a strand revolving around a group of mobsters, led by Gafoor Bhai (Arshad Warsi), is dull. And then there are the stock filmi cliches — a sick dad, a teary ma, a best friend, a supportive chacha, and a climactic episode, which is giving off a ‘DDLJ vibe’, in the words of a character, a villain’s den, an action star’s ‘dhaamakedaar’ entry — written without the requisite satirical edge.

There’s tonal confusion: is this making fun the stereotypes, or is it using them to tell us an over-used story of how film people are like any other, some good, some bad, and others ugly? Ultimately, despite some nice flourishes – Shah Rukh’s cameo is a hoot, but he has been edgier and funnier before — the Ba***ds of Bollywood is simply not self-aware, and yes, not fun enough. For access, that one song from Om Shanti Om, in which all cool girls and boys of Bollywood showed up for Farah Khan, is still tops. There’s a surprising profusion of salty language in the show, but for true ba***dly acting out, do a re-watch of Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Luck By Chance’, which balances insider access and affection with welcome sharpness.

One visual, though, is worth the entire series: two best friends, who just happen to be Hindu and Muslim, standing side-by-side, at a funeral, united in grief. Take that, trolls.

The Ba***ds of Bollywood cast: Lakshya, Sahher Bhambba, Raghav Juyal, Bobby Deol, Manoj Pahwa, Mona Singh, Anyaa Singh, Manish Prakash Chaudhari, Rajat Bedit, Gautami Kapoor
The Ba***ds of Bollywood director: Aryan Khan
The Ba***ds of Bollywood rating: 2.5 stars