If you don’t expect any piercing insights, the series works
The layers of darkness that lie behind and around the glitz and glamor of Mumbai showbiz have spread ShowtimeA Disney+Hotstar series produced by Dharmatic Entertainment. Employing broad and familiar strokes, the show has no shortage of vim and vitality. Most of it does not accumulate beneath its shiny surface.
Anyway, the first four episodes Showtime – the next batch is scheduled to arrive in June – has enough vitality to be able to sustain the interest of the audience, if only a superficial arrangement.
Showtimecreated by Rocky or Rani is a love story Headlined by co-writers Sumit Roy and Emraan Hashmi, the somewhat watered-down present-day adaptation of last year’s Amazon Prime period drama series jubileeSet in the studio era Hindi film industry. Short of the history and politics outside the pale world of the film industry, Showtime delves into a slice of cinema and seeks to peel back the layers from the glossy hide of a high-stakes business that pretends to be snobbish and proud because it brings in huge profits.
ShowtimeWritten by the creator of the show with Lara Chandni and Mithun Gangopadhyay and directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar, weaves a yarn that perpetuates the notion of a Mumbai dream factory that enjoys currency among netizens who have a love-hate relationship with Bollywood.
Even when it is met with emphasis, Showtime Knowing about film production and its human and material resources does not go beyond information. But the series works if you don’t expect any piercing insights. It is buoyed by a touch of effective performance by the lead actors.
Showtime A vehicle that has an easily reinforced undercarriage that holds the structure together is an exercise that is somewhat hampered when it comes to filling the canvas with details that aren’t already in the public domain.
It’s all the things we talk about when we talk about contemporary Hindi cinema – crass commercialism, nepotism, dominance of stardom, salacious scams, obsession with box office numbers, review manipulation, acts of sabotage, laws of curtailment. Returns, the growing power of southern cinema and the eternal conflict between industry and commerce.
The show sometimes seems to poke fun at the industry that created it. Or is the joke on the audience going to swallow it? whatever, Showtime A well packaged, consciously calibrated confessional. It puts Bollywood under the scanner but is in a mood of transparency until too many ‘real’ skeletons fall out of the closet.
A movie mogul’s days are numbered. A young player wants to play the game on his own terms. A couple of women grapple with opportunities and challenges that come their way and force them to leave their comfort zone. A fully grown male megastar is convinced that he is God.
Throughout Jingbang, men and women are caught up in a vortex of rapid change – something of their own making – that they struggle to accept, is fair game. In an unexpected turn of events, Victor Kapoor (Naseeruddin Shah), the aging boss of Victory Studios, a Mumbai film production company celebrating its 40th anniversary, unleashes an unpleasant surprise on his exuberant male heir Raghu Kapoor (Emraan Hashmi).
The old man, with good reason, hands over the reins of the business to a girl behind the ears, Mahika Nandi (Mahima Makwana), a sly film critic whose ruthlessly negative review of the banner’s latest film, has gotten under Victory Sion’s skin.
Victor Kapoor’s dramatic move unfolds in a chain of events, countermeasures and ambitious new film projects, bruised egos and broken promises that pit Mahika against forces she must understand to try and rise above. The power struggle between him and Raghu Khanna is central to the plot.
Victor Kapoor built the studio from scratch and developed a sense of imperfection that he delivered a string of duds. He holds that cinema is dhanda na dharma hai (filmmaking is not a business, it is a religion). Raghu Khanna does not believe in any such words.
The young woman who is roped into a role she is hardly prepared for gets help and support from her boyfriend Prithvi (Vishal Vasishta), former Victory Studio factotum and Victor Kapoor’s most trusted aide Deven (Denzil Smith).
There is one woman in Raghu Khanna’s life – item girl Yasmin Ali (Mouni Roy), who, inspired by her boyfriend, dreams of playing the lead in a female-centric spy thriller. But as she is at the mercy of a fickle man who can make or break her, life is not a bed of roses for her. Giving his battle Showtime Another notable melodramatic strand. Raghu’s relationship with his lead star Aman Khanna (Rajeev Khandelwal) is volatile. They often have run-ins but the two men, bound together by their professional interests, cannot live without each other.
In one scene, Raghu tells Armaan: “Let’s give the audience what they want.” In another, Armaan throws a salvo at Raghu: “Who are you? You think you are God. Bollywood mein khuda siraf star hota hai.” What don’t we already know?
The main quintet of actors in Showtime They bring different performance styles to bear on the characters they play. Naseeruddin Shah’s Victor represents the old school, Emraan Hashmi’s Raghu is the uncertain present and Mahima Makwana’s Mahika points to an even bleaker future.
Rajeev Khandelwal’s superstar and Mouni Roy’s glamorous starlet epitomize self-absorbed arrogance and dogged ambition respectively. None of these actors are creating characters that have never been seen before but they firmly immerse themselves in their roles and never let the energy levels drop.
It’s easy to guess what’s happening next though, and even when the show’s pacing slackens a touch, the series’ pace ensures it never stops boiling. Ultimately what matters most is: Does Showtime draw us into what’s happening and what’s ahead?
In other words, does Showtime Are we asking for more? Well, for the most part, it has enough to offer to keep us invested. While the fourth episode ends with the promise of returning with an extension of the story, the show has sucked in the audience enough to make us want to delve into the lives and aspirations of Mahika, Raghu, Armaan and Yasmin, come June. .
