Aryan Khan’s grand debut project, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, has been the talk of the town since its release on Netflix. It’s been in the limelight for both good and bad reasons. The ongoing legal battle between former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede and the showrunners has gained massive attention from people across the country. Plus, the show’s satirical take on Bollywood hasn’t sat well with everyone in the industry.
Now, the plot development involving the central romantic pairing of Aasmaan Singh (Lakshya Lalwani) and Karishma Talvar (Sahher Bamba) has shifted the conversation from industry critique to outright social condemnation.
The revelation that the star-crossed lovers are, in fact, half-siblings, both offspring of the menacing industry mogul and star Ajay Talvar (Bobby Deol), has been met with a wave of intense criticism from a significant portion of viewers.
The backlash stems largely from the belief that the makers are promoting “incest” through the show. For much of the series, the passionate and conflict-ridden romance between the outsider Aasmaan and the nepo-baby Karishma served as its emotional core, a classic Bollywood trope.
Their chemistry was even highlighted in pre-release promotional materials. By transforming this on-screen love story into an act of accidental incest, the show has baffled a large section of the audience. While some have called the decision “bold” and “brave,” others think the plot twist “doesn’t make any sense,” while many believe the shock value has overstepped moral boundaries.
Critics argue that the twist is less a complex dramatic tool and more a cheap, sensational tactic designed purely to generate controversy and social media buzz. The plot twist, while a staple in some international teen dramas (most notably Elite, which The Ba***ds of Bollywood shares thematic echoes with), hits differently in a series catering to a largely Indian audience, where such relationships are deeply taboo and often seen as an unforgivable moral violation, even in fiction.
While The Ba***ds of Bollywood has undoubtedly achieved its goal of sparking an explosive conversation, the cost appears to be the goodwill and emotional investment of a significant faction of its audience, leaving a bitter or confused taste where a compelling plot should have been. As the series heads into its second season, the creators face the daunting task of navigating the aftermath of this shocking twist and attempting to win back the viewers they’ve pushed away. Stay tuned for more updates.