There are certain perks of being the son of one of India’s biggest movie stars. For instance, plastering over the stuttering parts of your screenplay with a plethora of cameos from Bollywood’s who’s who is a technique most writer-directors cannot afford. However, a bigger set of tools does not always lead to a brighter display of creativity. To be frank, it is only a handful who can work with the flamboyance, the extravagance, and craft a marvelous exhibit.
Without namedropping Federico Fellini, a relatively more recent example of such ingenuity would be “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (created by Amy Sherman-Palladino). On the flip side, the number of productions that could not quite cope with the tumultuous waves of excess and sink is quite high. On that particular note, Aryan Khan deserves plaudits because he does not sink. Although he does not really ride the waves with precision, he manages to stay afloat. This makes his debut as the writer and director of “Bads” the most encouraging among all other debuts of nepo-children.
“Bads” (a shorthand for the longer and somewhat ambiguous title, The Ba***ds of Bollywood) focuses on Aasmaan Singh’s (Lakshya) quest to become a Bollywood superstar. In this quest, Aasmaan is accompanied by his manager, Sanya (Anya Singh), who may or may not carry a pen with her. Then there is his family. Aasmaan’s father, Rajat (Vijayant Kohli), dotes on his son and perhaps carries a similar degree of penchant for Aasmaan’s dreams as Aasmaan does himself.
Aasmaan’s mother, Neeta (Mona Singh), is apprehensive about her son’s dreams, knowing the heartbreak that might come with inevitable failures. There is Aasmaan’s loving uncle, Avtaar (Manoj Pahwa), who has seen his own Bollywood dreams shattered. This ragtag group, however, is incomplete without mentioning Aasmaan’s best friend, Parvaiz (Raghav Juyal). Parvaiz’s energy as the hype man can only be compared with the best in the business in that category, like Javier Bardem in “Dune” or Javier Bardem in “F1.”
On the opposing side lie the challengers. From unfunny critics (here’s looking at myself) to shoddy producers, Aasmaan’s path is littered with obstacles. But none bigger than the one he meets on the set of his next movie, a Karan Johar (Johar playing himself with astute flamboyance) musical at that. It is love. After an ugly spat with her, Aasmaan finds himself drawn towards Karishma (Sahher Bambba), his co-star in the film and the daughter of the industry’s top superstar, Ajay Talvar (Bobby Deol). Karishma is betrothed to the son of a business tycoon. Understandably, Ajay is not too thrilled about Karishma’s growing association with Aasmaan.
This familiar ‘Bollywood’ premise could have led us down the same spirally descending path of middling banality. However, Aryan Khan has two weapons to avoid that, and he uses them judiciously. Let us discuss the first one. Being the son of Shah Rukh Khan, Aryan Khan had opportunities to be observant about the inner workings of Bollywood, especially the intriguing personalities.
Using his observations and the sporting desire to be self-deprecating, Khan uses his lens as an antidote to the unabashedly hollow productions that solely exist for the glorification of this world. However, with his discernible love for Bollywood, Khan does not allow “Bads” to fully embrace its cynicism, like Zoya Akhtar’s poignant “Luck By Chance” did. The lens, even with all the derisions and jabs, reflects a sense of awe that Khan undoubtedly has for these larger-than-life characters that make Bollywood Bollywood.
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And this is not a bad thing for “Bads” necessarily. Khan did not set out to make a “Luck By Chance.” For its theme, these chirpy subplots and jaunty side characters elevate the TV series. In addition to that, there is a youthful earnestness in the way Khan blurted out all he had to say in the very first episode. Whether it is the roundtable drama or his own experience with the drug raid, Khan’s desire to make the first episode a ‘diss track’ successfully and resoundingly captures your attention. As a result, even with subsequent faltering, you would find the desire to see it through. Then there are those cameos, not always novel, but engrossing nonetheless.
Now, let us come to the second member of the set of aforementioned weapons: the cast. Khan is truly blessed with the enigmatic “Kill” duo of Lakshya and Raghav Juyal. Lakshya manages to exude the necessary aura while being convincingly vulnerable as the lead, Aasmaan. He becomes the heart of the story. His conviction would compel you to root for Aasmaan’s success, regardless of your feelings towards Bollywood. That is a sign of great character-writing merging with extraordinary performances. The superlative support cast of Manoj Pahwa, Mona Singh, Sahher Bambba, Bobby Deol, and Karan Johar becomes the essential garnish. Special mention for Manish Chaudhuri’s sneakily riveting act as the controversial film producer, Sodawallah, and Rajat Bedi’s hilarious comeback as the has-been Jaraj Saxena.
However, it would be horrendously remiss of me if I did not take a separate paragraph to praise Raghav Juyal. If Lakshya is the heart of “Bads,” Juyal is the soul. His fanboyism scene with Emraan Hashmi has gone viral, and for good reason. His equally breathtaking chemistry with Ranveer Singh in his cameo cements one fact early in the scene. The star-cameos that would have Juyal in them would instantly become greater than the ones without him. And that is saying a lot. Even when he is not in the scene, he sets up for the star to score the goal, like he did for Salman Khan.
Yes, there are certain moments where Khan’s youthful naivete is noticeable. For instance, playing the elephant trumpet sound in the background to highlight a fat woman arguing is not the best choice. The thing with dark comedy is that unless you pluck a gem out of the depths, the plunge does not become worthwhile. Khan did not always pluck gems in that regard. Having said that, he has shown enough courage and zeal to make us hopeful for bolder and bigger productions from him. I half-hoped that he would show Aasmaan receiving certain toolkit messages from certain IT cells to praise certain personalities. Aasmaan’s desire not to bend (‘Jhukega nahi shala’) would have truly been tested. Perhaps next time.
