Aryan Khan’s Bold, Messy, and Surprisingly Self-Aware Netflix Debut.
By Giselle Gunewardena
When Aryan Khan, the son of Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan, announced that he would not debut in front of the camera but instead behind it, expectations split in two. Some imagined he would quietly produce sleek content under the family’s Red Chillies Entertainment banner; others hoped for something brash, a statement project that showed what Bollywood’s most scrutinised star son had to say about the industry that raised him. The Ba***ds of Bollywood, now streaming on Netflix, delivers more of the latter. It is messy, audacious, occasionally indulgent, but undeniably entertaining.
A Satirical Spin on Bollywood’s Favourite Fault Line
At its heart, The Ba***ds of Bollywood is a satire of the film industry itself, focusing on the endlessly debated insider versus outsider battle. The protagonist, Aasmaan Singh (played by Lakshya Lalwani), is an ambitious striver desperate to carve a space in an ecosystem dominated by nepotism, legacy, and egos. Aryan Khan doesn’t pretend to sugarcoat this world: instead, he drenches it in excess. The language is coarse, the humour is biting, and the characters oscillate between grotesque caricatures and painfully familiar archetypes. From his very first episode, Aryan makes it clear: this is not an aspirational love letter to the movies. It’s a rollicking, often chaotic roast of the Hindi film industry. Viewers are greeted with cussing producers, scheming assistants, manipulative PR handlers, and actors so caught in their image-management spirals that they forget to act.
The Nepotism Elephant in the Room
The most remarkable quality of the show is how directly it addresses the “nepo baby” debate, a subject Aryan himself cannot escape. Instead of dodging it, he leans into it. In one episode, a character snipes, “If you’re born into the right family, you’ve already done half the auditions.” Another scene features an up-and-coming starlet berating her PR team: “Sell me as an outsider. The audience eats that up.” These jabs are not subtle, but they are knowing. The show thrives when it weaponizes irony. Aryan Khan, himself the ultimate insider, stages a series about the futility of trying to “make it” without connections. He could have dodged accusations of hypocrisy by playing it safe, but instead he makes them part of the text. That choice gives the series an edge and has critics hailing him for “owning the narrative” rather than running from it.
Casting and Cameos: Bollywood Playing Itself
One of the series’ joys is its casting. Lakshya Lalwani is strong as Aasmaan Singh, brimming with a mix of arrogance and desperation. Sahher Bambba is striking as his conflicted love interest, constantly pulled between loyalty and ambition. Bobby Deol, in particular, steals scenes with his devil-may-care charisma, reminding viewers how underutilised he is in mainstream roles. But what truly makes the show sparkle are the cameos. Aryan Khan uses Bollywood itself as set dressing: familiar faces appear in walk-on roles that wink at their real-life reputations. Unlike many meta projects where cameos feel like gimmicks, here they function as part of the satire. A fading superstar plays himself berating a director for casting “some TV boy.” A notorious party host gets parodied mercilessly. Viewers who follow Bollywood gossip closely will find themselves pausing to savour these Easter eggs.
Storytelling: A Balancing Act Between Satire and Drama
The show’s structure, seven episodes, each around 40 minutes, allows it to shift tones. The first three episodes revel in outrageous satire. Midway, however, Aryan steers into darker territory. Aasmaan finds himself entangled in scandals, rivalries, and even jail time, a thread that has led to speculation about whether Aryan drew from his own 2021 arrest. Though cast members deny it is autobiographical, the parallels are hard to ignore. When the show focuses on absurdist humour, it soars. There are laugh-out-loud lines, industry in-jokes, and moments that capture the sheer circus of Bollywood life. Yet when it pivots to melodrama, betrayals, redemption arcs, heavy-handed moralising, it loses some of its bite. The satire gets diluted in favour of emotional payoff, and the show risks becoming the very Bollywood masala it skewers.
Dialogue, Language, and Style
The writing is brash and peppered with profanity. This stylistic choice has divided audiences: some find it refreshingly real; others find it excessive. But it does serve the purpose of puncturing the glossy, sanitised image Bollywood often projects. Visually, the series embraces extremes: neon-lit parties, over-the-top award shows, dingy jail cells, cramped audition halls. It doesn’t aim for realism; it aims for exaggeration. The production design reflects a world where appearance matters more than substance, where artifice is survival.
Criticisms: When Satire Becomes Cliché
For all its boldness, The Ba***ds of Bollywood isn’t flawless. Its biggest weakness is that in trying to cover every aspect of the industry, nepotism, PR manipulation, casting couch whispers, drugs, social media obsession, it sometimes becomes scattershot. Certain storylines feel predictable. Rival actors sabotaging each other’s auditions, shady producers exploiting newcomers, starlets staging fake romances, these tropes are well-worn, and while Aryan tries to twist them with humour, they occasionally land as clichés. Moreover, the show occasionally seems too enamoured with its own cleverness. The meta jokes pile up, and for viewers outside the Bollywood gossip bubble, many references may fly over the head. What feels deliciously sharp to industry insiders could feel alienating to international audiences.
Aryan Khan’s Debut: Nepo Baby or Visionary?
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the series is what it signals about Aryan Khan himself. He was always going to face the harshest scrutiny: too privileged to be hailed as an underdog, too untested to be taken seriously. By choosing satire as his first project, he positions himself as self-aware, willing to lampoon the very privileges that made his career possible. This doesn’t absolve him of critique. The series benefits from Netflix’s global reach and Red Chillies Entertainment’s backing, advantages most first-time creators could only dream of. Yet, within that privilege, Aryan demonstrates genuine wit and audacity. He could have launched with a safe rom-com or action thriller. Instead, he risked alienating the very industry he grew up in. That’s worth noting.
Reception and Impact
Early reviews have been polarised but largely positive. Social media has latched onto its unapologetic tone: memes circulate of characters shouting “If you’re a nepo baby, make it your weapon!” Critics have praised Aryan’s ability to transform his greatest vulnerability into his creative edge. There are detractors, of course. Some argue it is hypocritical for a star son to lampoon nepotism while benefiting from it. Others feel the show’s tonal shifts make it uneven. But few deny that it is an ambitious debut. For Netflix, perpetually hungry for Indian originals with global crossover appeal, The Ba***ds of Bollywood feels like a strategic win: slick enough to appeal internationally, spicy enough to ignite debate at home.
Verdict
The Ba***ds of Bollywood is not perfect. It is at times indulgent, occasionally predictable, and uneven in tone. But it is also bold, funny, and self-aware in ways few Hindi web series have dared to be. It doesn’t settle for glamourised portrayals of the industry but instead exposes its cracks with relish. As Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, it makes a statement: he isn’t interested in safe or reverent storytelling. He wants to provoke, to satirise, to laugh at the circus from the inside. The series may not silence his critics, but it will force them to take him seriously. For viewers, it’s a ride worth taking; entertaining, chaotic, occasionally eye-rolling, but never dull. Much like Bollywood itself.
