The Ba***ds of Bollywood is glossy but lacks the edge

In the 2007 Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster Om Shanti Om — a satire that was a homage to retro Bollywood and its eccentricities — one of the standout scenes was set at an awards show.

- Lekha Menon

Packed with star appearances, the sequence brilliantly spoofed the insecurities and fragile egos behind Bollywood’s glittering award nights. My favourite was the hilarious Akshay Kumar cameo where he throws an over-the-top tantrum after losing the trophy to Shah Rukh Khan — a moment that’s still meme-worthy.

Cut to The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the much-hyped Netflix web series that sees the directorial debut of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan. Here too, one of the funniest set-pieces is an awards-night spoof. The “Filmfirst” red carpet is a who’s who of Bollywood — Rajkummar Rao, Arjun Kapoor, Shanaya Kapoor, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Disha Patani all gamely throw fun at themselves and their peers. And then, in comes Shah Rukh Khan, playing an exaggerated version of himself. A newbie actor even drops King Khan’s iconic OSO line about the universe conspiring to fulfil your wish in a not-so-subtle hat tip.

But... and this is a big but... a homage, inspiration, copy, tribute, whatever you call it, lands only if the foundation it’s built on is original and strong. The Ba***ds of Bollywood doesn’t quite cut it. The script leans so heavily on the crutches of star cameos (most already revealed in the trailer) and painfully obvious self-aware gags that the main plot itself becomes feeble. In isolation, these tricks work (probably the reason why the trailer looked so cool) but together they feel like a patchwork.