The Ba***ds of Bollywood

Aryan Khan, Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan's story is crazy and entertaining. Aryan Khan, Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan's screenplay is very engaging. There's not a single dull moment as so much is happening every second. Aryan Khan's dialogues (additional dialogues by Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan) are sharp and add to the laughter. Aryan Khan's direction is supreme. It's commendable that he managed so much in his debut venture. The way he has executed the scenes and also nicely stitched all the tracks together is praiseworthy. His biggest strength is humour. He has taken a lot of digs at the industry and also incorporated plot points that are very relevant. Of course, he goes overboard and that's the idea. Thankfully, it works well.

Even though The Ba***ds of Bollywood has 'types' rather than real looking or sounding characters, Aryan Khan has made it entertaining and wicked. The darkness is tinged with comedy, and the celebs who appear in it have no qualms in making themselves the target of Khan's humour. Karan Johar's self aggrandisement, or the scene between Rajamouli and Aamir Khan are chuckle worthy. Freddy's oppressed sidekick Jeejeebhoy (Meherzan Mazda) is hilarious, and the kind of worm who is just so ready for turning! The opening episodes are enticing enough for audiences to follow it to the end, just hoping Aryan Khan has some real insights of offer. After all, he has had a ringside view of the industry, there's no reason for him to skim the surface, or even try to gild the lily.

The problem, however, is that this central love story is never fully convincing. Bambba and Lakshya share chemistry for sure, but Khan—who has co-written the series with Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan—does not give us many scenes of them actually in love.