'Showtime' Review: Emraan Hashmi-led series is only glitter and no gold (2024)

New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 8, 2024 16:41 IST

Why is it that the very term ‘Bollywood’ has such a negative connotation? The mere word has somewhat conditioned a section of society into thinking of it as a big, bad world; all glitz and glamour from the outside, but charcoal-black from the inside. Emraan Hashmi’s latest offering on Disney+ Hotstar, ‘Showtime’, is yet another predictable story about the life and politics of the film industry.

Raghu Khanna (played by Emraan Hashmi) takes over his father Victor Khanna’s (Naseeruddin Shah) film studio, built with a lot of hard work and passion. When Victor dies, a will left by him sabotages Raghu's life of luxury. Just when he thinks success is near and here to stay, Victor names his long-hidden granddaughter, an amateur journalist Mahika Nandy (Mahima Makwana), as the heir to his robust production house. And thus begins an ego tussle between Raghu and Mahika, that gets escalated into a long-drawn game of controversies, fights, pain, scandals, and challenges. The show also serves as a light satire on the world of films.

‘Showtime’ isn’t a lost potential. It is just another tale about the film industry, relying on its stereotypes – competition, deceit, sex, and scandals. The series attempts to bring about a certain level of truthfulness by including real-life names and characters. And it works too, but only to some extent.

Emraan Hashmi impresses yet again with his acting prowess. He has evolved as an actor and it shows. The actor has always had an ease in front of the camera and that is his USP. Mahima Makwana is the surprise element in the series. She has the meatier chunk and does justice to her part. However, her capacity isn't utilised to her full potential in the first four episodes. Here’s hoping we see more of her acting skills in the remaining episodes of the series.

Then comes Rajeev Khandelwal, as the mighty superstar Armaan. And he is nothing short of a hot mess! Rajeev, often listed amongst the 'performers' in the film industry, justifies his part by playing a star who is insecure about himself, his position in the industry, is arrogant, and always full of himself. The actor tries his best, but his potential is underutilised in the series.

Then there’s Mouni Roy too, who plays Yasmin, a budding actor and an ‘item song specialist.' She also plays Raghu’s love interest in the show. Mouni’s appearance is mostly limited to close-up shots of her toned physique and a few dialogues here and there. She is sparsely spread across the film, probably a level over the regular blink-and-miss appearance. Oh, that would be Shriya Saran for you. Vijay Raaz is a part of the show as well. However, it seems like his best bit is left for the forthcoming episodes. At least, that’s what we would like to believe.

Watch the trailer of 'Showtime' here:

‘Showtime’ will remind you of various reel and real-life Bollywood stories, conjoined into one. From Victor Khanna's (Naseeruddin Shah) statue inside his opulent studio, or the affairs and scandals shown in the episodes; everything will remind you of our Hindi film industry. There are bits and pieces of incidents taken from everywhere. Inspiration or copy, that's left to the audience’s imagination. There are multiple cameos to look out for too.

Dialogues play a key role in ‘Showtime’, one of which goes, “Star superstar tab banta hain jab pan masala ka brand bann jaye (A star becomes a superstar when he becomes a pan masala brand ambassador). Does it ring a bell? Ouch!

‘Showtime’ is also cleverly shot, to make up for the poor screenplay. The cinematography has been experimented with and that does, somewhere, carry the show forward (pun intended).

Directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar, the series appears to belong to that category of films that pump up after the interval. Ending on a cliffhanger, all hopes are now on the remaining episodes that release in June.

All in all, ‘Showtime’ is yet another (not so) fictional tale of the dream city, turning darker for the residents at every turn. It might have been average so far, but you never know. If you are looking for a new weekend watch, you might as well give this one shot -

- for Emraan, Rajeev, and Mahika, if nothing else.

Showtime is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

2 out of 5 stars for ‘Showtime’.