Rahul Desai
Johar takes on his own life in Showtime – a based-on-true-rumours drama about the power struggles, ego battles and off-camera controversies in the Hindi film industry.
Showtime, created by Sumit Roy, is the kind of unapologetically campy series that counts on the voyeuristic desires of the average viewer. Only the first four episodes are streaming right now, but it’s not difficult to gauge its intent.
The composites range from YashRaj Films to the Khans, from cancel culture and effigy-burning to raging affairs and massy Kannada superstars.
The problem with making the setting the protagonist is simple. Having the depth of a ‘BollyBlindsNGossip’ thread on Reddit can’t be the selling point. The characters are never compromised at the altar of spill-the-tea storytelling.
The focus is more on how they operate and who they represent than how they feel: It’s all ‘goss’ and little substance. Consequently, most of the performances lack the complexities of their setting.
Like, for instance, Mahika’s journo-hangout is an Andheri quarter bar. Or a star suggesting changes like ‘parkour’ in a period biopic. Or the ‘outdated’ studio founder sadly watching his classics in a private projection room.