What Is the Story About?
Despite its illustrious legacy, Viktory Studios is gradually losing its hold in Hindi cinema due to a continual flop streak. To make matters worse, its founder Victor Khanna commits suicide, leaving the studio in the hands of a movie critic Mahika, whom he declares as his granddaughter. Raghu Khanna, the son of the late filmmaker, will do everything to reassert his authority in the industry.
Performances?
For a series that’s showy and unabashedly over the top, Emraan Hashmi’s performance has a mad conviction that works in favour of the plot. He is a man on a mission and the actor mirrors Raghu Khanna’s restlessness to the T. Mahima Makwana is impressive as the journalist-turned-empress showcasing moral ambiguity, and confidence while handling many transitions in Mahika’s character.
Shriya Saran’s casting as a two-time national award winner is rather inept, but the actress, as always, uses her looks and body language to good effect. Mouni Roy is at ease stepping into the shoes of a starlet who’s sincere in love. Rajeev Khandelwal’s hammy performance works well but it could’ve benefited with some charisma. Vishal Vashishtha, Vijay Raaz and others do the needful while they last.
Analysis
Showtime is a desperate attempt to churn pulp fiction seeped into Bollywood. The makers throw every cliche into the mix and come up with a no-brainer of a plot that is too ridiculous to be a tribute and too unfunny to be a parody. From taking on nepotism to power hierarchy within a studio to starry tantrums to insecurities, affairs and unwanted pregnancies, the show is overstuffed with plot devices.
The issue with Showtime is how it takes itself too seriously. To give a sense of the proceedings, a dying thespian entrusts a studio’s future with a long-abandoned granddaughter, a supposedly righteous film critic, who has just torn apart their latest film to shreds. A critic with an idealised notion of filmmaking takes charge of a banner and is expected to revive its fortunes overnight.
The core conflict in the show is what 70s and 80s staple Bollywood fares were made up of – an agitated father lost in his glorious past, an arrogant son with no foresight and a promising niece who’s set to call the shots. The tone of the show is unsettling in the first place – it doesn’t strive to make any sense and there are newer plot twists by the drop of a hat to add insult to injury.
As much as you despise the exaggeration, the narrative goes ‘bonkers’ consistently – there’s some order in chaos and a method to the madness. Showtime is a self-indulgent, incestuous look into the industry but it makes for guilty pleasure viewing because it spares none – film critics, shady producers, delusional stars, nepo-kids, trophy wives and melodramatic starlets.
The show toys with a Bollywood aficionado’s outlook towards the industry and its inner workings – highly unrealistic but entertaining. A film critic is gifted a mobile phone to give a raving review of a star vehicle, a male star suddenly feels the pinch when an award-winning filmmaker praises the female lead more and a producer blackmails a rival about the news of his girlfriend’s pregnancy.
Lately, good storytelling in Indian cinema/digital space loosely translates itself to anything that doesn’t allow you to think too much. The show is packed with too many events that you struggle to keep track of, and they strangely keep you glued too. ‘I hate you like I love you’ is how a viewer would probably describe Showtime in a nutshell.
Music and Other Departments?
The music of the show is in sync with its exaggerated tone though the songs make no impact at all. To give credit where it’s due, Showtime is gorgeously shot, capturing the glitz and the opulence of the film industry visually. The three-hour length for a single season is ideal and the cliffhanger ending may tempt the viewer to wait for the next instalment in June.
Highlights?
Entertaining despite the ridiculous premise
Reasonable performances
Drawbacks?
Highly exaggerated
Overkill of plot devices and twists
Takes itself too seriously
Did I Enjoy It?
Not quite
Will You Recommend It?
Only if you’re a Bollywood aficionado
Showtime Series Review by Binged Bureau
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