There
are
real
movie
celebrities
doing
walk-ons
(who’d
say
no
to
Karan
Johar),
the
show
looks
all
glossy
and
glamorous,
but
the
plot
is
confined
to
the
tug
of
war
between
Raghu
and
Mahika,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
There
was
no
reason
to
break
Showtime
into
two
parts;
it
wasn’t
a
mystery
that
people
would
wait
up
months
to
see
who
the
culprit
turned
out
to
be.
Created
by
Sumit
Roy,
produced
by
Dharmatic,
directed
by
Mihir
Desai
and
Archit
Kumar,
the
series
(on
Disney+Hotstar)
is
an
insider’s
look
at
the
Hindi
film
industry,
which
is
mostly
fictional,
but
throws
in
enough
nuggets
for
the
viewer
to
play
guess
who
while
watching
the
overwrought
drama
about
the
secret
lives
of
movie
celebrities.
The
first
part
of
Season
One
had
a
really
interesting
plot
device
—
Viktor
Khanna
(Naseeruddin
Shah),
the
veteran
head
of
Viktory
Studios,
dies
by
suicide,
choosing
as
his
heir
not
his
ambitious
son
Raghu
(Emraan
Hashmi),
but
the
grand-daughter
whose
existence
nobody
knew
of.
Mahika
Nandy
(Mahima
Makwana)
is
the
offspring
of
his
estranged
daughter,
a
‘junior
film
critic’
with
a
Web
site,
that
has
just
decimated
Raghu’s
latest
film.
Viktor
cuts
Raghu
out
of
his
will,
because
the
son
does
not
abide
by
his
guiding
principle
—
that
cinema
is
‘dharm‘
not
‘dhanda‘.
Industry
folk
always
say
that
film-making
is
not
a
game,
and
critics
should
step
behind
the
scenes
to
know
how
the
gears
move.
So
Mahika
gets
the
opportunity
of
a
lifetime
to
live
the
dream
of
so
many
aspirants,
and
in
the
first
part
of
the
season,
she
already
starts
to
understand
what
it
takes
—
dealing
with
finance,
star
tantrums,
contract
hassles,
monstrous
egos,
snoopy
media,
and
raging
Raghu,
who
wants
her
to
fail.
Mahika
depends
on
the
loyalty
of
her
scriptwriter
boyfriend
Prithvi
(Vishal
Vashishtha)
and
Viktor
Khanna’s
old
associate
Deven
(Denzil
Smith),
but
the
odds
are
against
her.
Raghu
plans
to
start
his
own
studio
and
grab
the
projects
under
development
at
Viktory,
one
of
them
being
a
period
movie,
1875,
that
needs
the
star
power
of
Armaan
Singh
(Rajeev
Khandelwal),
and
he
is
wooed
by
both
Mahika
and
Raghu.
On
the
sidelines
are
Armaan’s
wife
(Shriya
Saran)
who
wants
to
make
a
comeback,
an
‘item’
girl
and
Raghu’s
girlfriend
Yasmin
Ali
(Mouni
Roy),
who
wants
to
move
up
to
lead
parts.
Mahika
wins
one
round,
by
getting
Rustomji
(Shataf
Figar)
to
back
1875,
and
signs
up
Cannes-winning
director
Sathya
(Neeraj
Madhav)
for
the
costume
drama.
But
everything
that
could
go
wrong
does,
and
the
four-episode
first
part
ended
with
an
inevitable
showdown
between
Mahika
and
Raghu.
There
is
actually
very
little
happening
in
part
two
—
Armaan
and
Mandira’s
marriage
was
already
cracking
up,
Raghu
had
humiliated
Yasmin
and
sent
her
packing.
So
there’s
not
much
left,
except
the
gathering
up
of
some
threads
and
loosening
of
others
for
a
possible
Season
Two.
The
seedy
Agra
moneybag
Sajan
Murarka
(Vijay
Raaz),
who
wants
to
launch
his
loutish
son,
was
introduced
earlier
—
he
plays
a
bigger,
more
destructive
part
in
the
remaining
three
episodes.
Enforcement
Directorate
raids,
cancel
culture
and
social
media
trolling
that
almost
drives
a
character
to
suicide,
make
a
topical
appearance
too,
but
seem
to
be
added
on
because
the
plor
was
drying
up.
Emran
Hashmi
—
brash,
supercilious,
without
a
diplomatic
bone
in
his
body
—
is
made
to
look
villainish,
but
he
is
actually
the
most
watchable
and
even
likeable
character
in
Showtime
because
he
knows
what
he
wants
and
refuses
to
play
games.
Vijay
Raaz
is
the
only
other
actor
in
the
cast,
who
plays
his
role
with
understanding
and
confidence.
The
ridiculous,
over
the
top
Diwali
party
scene
works
because
Sajan
does
not
think
there
is
anything
to
be
ashamed
about
in
flaunting
wealth
and
buying
his
way
into
the
film
industry.
Seen
together
all
seven
episodes
present
a
view
of
the
industry
supposedly
authentic,
because
the
people
involved
in
the
making
ought
to
know,
so
the
audience
imagines
there
must
be
in-jokes
and
bits
that
only
those
who
work
in
the
industry
would
be
privy
to.
There
are
real
movie
celebrities
doing
walk-ons
(who’d
say
no
to
Karan
Johar),
the
show
looks
all
glossy
and
glamorous,
but
the
plot
is
confined
to
the
tug
of
war
between
Raghu
and
Mahika.
There
is
a
lot
more
to
Bollywood
than
the
unguarded
glimpses
Showtime
offers.
But
then,
the
fact
is
also
that
the
mystique
of
the
movies
lies
in
audiences
guessing
but
not
really
knowing
the
inner
circle
sturm
und
drang,
never
mind
what
the
stars’
PR
teams
put
out
on
social
media.
Showtime
Season
1
Part
2
streams
on
Disney+Hotstar
Showtime
Season
1
Part
2
Review
Rediff
Rating:
