Ba***ds of Bollywood: When Bollywood meets nostalgia and satire…

Starring: Lakshya Lalwani, Sahher Bambba, Bobby Deol, Raghav Juyal, Anya Singh, Manish Chaudhari, Mona Singh, Manoj Pahwa, Gautami Kapoor, Rajat Bedi

Director: Aryan Khan

Review by Akshita Gupta

They say that as a filmmaker, you should tell the stories you know best, and that is exactly what Aryan Khan has done with Ba***ds of Bollywood. This isn’t just Bollywood, it’s Bollywood². The most Bollywood that Bollywood could possibly get.

What’s the difference between ‘The Hindi Film Industry’ and “Bollywood”?….. - It’s the perception.

While both are supposed to be used interchangeably, the term ‘Bollywood’ has some additional connotations for us ‘normies’. To us, it is: glitz, glamor, songs, dancing, superstars, cameos, backstabbing, success parties, film families, paps, nepotism, the ‘movie mafia’, outsiders vs. insiders, and so much more. 

Ba***ds of Bollywood has a lot of moments that feel reminiscent of Om Shanti Om, and yet, it is brand new and original in its own sharp way.

Lakshya is the ‘hero’ of this show and gets that treatment. He is fantastic in an action avatar, as was evident in Kill (2024). He possesses the ability to channel goofiness and excels in dramatic scenes; however, there are few such moments, and those that do occur flash by due to the screenplay's fast pace. 

Bobby Deol as Ajay Talwar deserves a full essay. At 56, he looks better than ever and delivers some of his finest performances. What’s remarkable is how he has embraced his age – choosing not to de-age with technology, but instead playing age-appropriate roles, like the father of a twenty-something. That choice alone is refreshing to see from a star of his generation. On screen, he is menacing, tender, and kind, sometimes all within a single scene. That is the mark of experience. Watching him is an absolute delight.

This show is a riot and absolute chaotic fun for a Bollywood nut with all the masaala Bollywood moments and references that will make you laugh out loud - total 'theater ki seatei phatt gayi' vibes. Ba***ds of Bollywood is a satire on the Hindi Film Industry that speaks more to our preconceived notions than the true blue reality of it, and therein lies the sharpness of the writing. 

Read the full review at - https://www.akshitag.com/post/bads-of-bollywood-review

CAMAAL MUSTAFA SIKANDER, BOLLYWOOD SATIRIST CREATES WAVES WITH POLITICS

Maverick Bollywood Satirist Camaal Mustafa Sikander along with his “cronies in crime and satire” – as he terms his associates, are working on a Photo Series on the Great Indian Election Circus. CMS - as he is known amongst his friends, along with actor Rajkumar Kanojiya, ballroom dance trainer Daniel Ibess Clifford and writer Sanjeev Rajat are seen here working for a series of Photo Cartoons on various political characters depicting the ongoing election campaigning in India.

Says Camaal Mustafa Sikander explaining his passion, “It was my childhood dream to become a singer and actor but due to stage-fright and other circumstances I did not make it. However, I have found solace in a new passion and now I create spoofs of various Bollywood actors, movies, songs including all times greats like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan to name a few. With the help of well-known Bollywood photographer Raju Asrani who snaps the action very creatively, I create posters and photo cartoons based on that. I have evolved a particular style for this piece of satire and though I am still trying to identify a unique name for it, ‘Har Fun Maula – Jack of All Master of Fun’ is a self-given tagline.”

Professionally Camaal is a creative consultant for print, web and OOH and has helped design the creative branding for various events, brands, artistes and his clients range from Mohammed Rafi Academy, Immortal Memories (GV Films) and many others. His former clients include Asit Modi of Neela Telefilms, Vipul Shah of Optimystix, the late Pran Saab, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, writer Javed Siddiqui and many others.

- See more Bollywood news at: http://www.filmytown.com/