The Silver Spoon as a Golden Eye

Dialoguebaazi, drama, and dynasties. The Bads of Bollywood has all this and more. Made with humour, heart, and chutzpah, the series takes the best of 70s potboiler cinema and remakes it into a delightful observation on the film industry. It is as affectionate as it is clear eyed, making note of the industry’s cruel nature as well as its unexpected solidarity.

Armed with access to the topmost stars, an ability to tell a story, and a first-hand knowledge of how the ecosystem works, the director Aryan Khan has made a series that laughs at itself and the industry it portrays. It takes potshots at himself, his family, the fan culture and the paparazzi. It even laughs at the platform it is premiered on.

The story is not new. A boy from Lajpat Nagar, Delhi, comes to Mumbai, grabs his one chance to become a hero, and makes it big as a star after his first movie, called Revolver. There is a tussle for him between a producer Freddy Sodawallah (a smashing Manish Chaudhry) who has inherited a studio from a director who looks suspiciously like Yash Chopra, and Karan Johar, who is playing a hyper version of himself, embracing his movie mafia persona in full, limiting DD (Dharma Damage) where he can. Will the newbie, poetically named Aasmaan, work again? Will he fall foul of the underworld and Ghafoor Bhai or will Sodawallah end his career? And what of Karan, the famous promoter of newcomers? Will he give him another chance?

Smartly edited, the seven episode series doesn’t try too hard to be funny. Instead the laughs and surprises come organically. There are illegitimate children, surprising hook-ups, tongue-in-cheek takedowns of movie reviewers and star cameos by the dozens. Each one is designed to bring out the best in the stars, whether it is Salman Khan who is a reluctant party guest, Aamir Khan who engages in a mad discussion on the vada pav vs idli sambar with SS Rajamouli, or Emraan Hashmi who is hired, of all things, as an intimacy coordinator (Aryan goes up in my esteem with his love for Emraan Hashmi, one I happen to share).

Unlike other movies that feel referential in a formulaic way, The Bads of Bollywood’s in-jokes are organic enough to be understood by audiences who have grown up on Bollywood movies and tabloid gossip. There is a takedown of Sameer Wankhede, who arrested Aryan Khan on a drug bust; there is a reference to his own incarceration, with the guard saying he would become more famous after time in jail; and there is even an appearance by his famous dad, who is made to mock his own stardom.

The acting is seamless by a fabulous ensemble cast, led by Raghav Juyal, who plays the newbie’s loyal friend; Anya Singh, his manager; Manoj Pahwa, his uncle; and Mona Singh, his mother.

Underlying all the laughs and easter eggs, there is a deep love for an industry the director has seen as a child, of his dad, and for the movies.

Occasionally silver spoons do turn out to be touched by Midas.