Showtime Review: Emraan Hashmi’s Hotstar Drama is a Convenient Affair

– No Spoilers –

Showtime Review

Hotstar Specials Showtime sees an established producer with daddy issues, Raghu Khanna, facing Mahika who suddenly finds herself helming the famous Viktory Studios one fine day after a review goes wrong. What follows is a power struggle between the two as they try to get fame and money one way or another, ending in them betraying their loved ones.

Hotstar’s newest release shows Bollywood as a ruthless place filled with fame-hungry people looking for a way to make money. It’s not too off the rails and gets the concept right on paper. However, once you rush through the first four episodes of the series, you will be left feeling a little confused about where the series is going. The show gets its point across early on and you realise that anything can happen in showbiz at any point but how it establishes these concepts is really half-baked and leaves viewers confused by the time we reach the end.

With only 4 episodes coming out on March 08, we are not given the full impact of the cause-and-effect scenario that the show wants to bring across. There are a ton of well-known members of the entertainment industry who make a welcome and surprising appearance throughout the runtime that is entertaining but at its core, the series misses out on delivering a tight home run because it refuses to give us a satisfying ending. We don’t know what Mahika is capable of because we are not shown the full scope of her capabilities and neither do we know whether Raghu has it in him to go against fresh blood with a different view.

On top of that, every decision, twist and thrill that the series gives us is extremely convenient and forgettable. There’s nothing new that truly gives us that moment of shock that you frantically hope for in such shows. You want the twists to be so convoluted and shocking that it leaves you at the edge of its runtime. Unfortunately, Showtime 2024 feels bland and unexciting because you know what’s going to happen next. On top of that, the series conveniently makes things happen so that we don’t spend too much time thinking about anything and delivers the same old obstacles that don’t evoke any stress.

However, it’s Emraan Hashmi who, once again, steals hearts in this series. Most of the others either feel out of place or absolutely useless but Hashmi carries his character and the series with fervour and enthusiasm and, much like others, we can’t help but swoon! The others, as I mentioned previously, are as good as forgettable although we still have 4 more episodes to go and things might just change in their favour. I am especially dejected that the women have hardly anything to do till now other than go through the motions of Raghu’s decision and react. But that being said, some of the men, too, have hardly much to do till now.

I feel like the series really misses out on giving us a complete experience because it doesn’t release all of its episodes. Although I must say that every other show that does this misses out on giving us the thrill that you’d expect by breaking up its episodes and releasing them months apart but with Showtime, I feel like we hardly get to watch anything before we have to wait for June for the rest. It’s disappointing, to say the least.

ETA: Showtime Part 2 Review

Three more episodes later, we finally come to the end of season 1 and, at the end of it all, I am left more confused than ever. Questioning the point of keeping this story unfinished and thus making no sense in its initial release, to leaving audiences unsatisfied once more by not finishing the story yet again in part 2, this Hostar release is a mess. Showcasing the dark underbelly of the Bollywood film industry and the various moving parts, Showtime Part 2 feels rushed and forced, with random things happening altogether as if the creators desperately needed some conflict to keep audiences from leaving midway.

And I get it – if you really look into it, this series discusses a lot of things but also nothing. The conflict between the half-siblings seems to get conveniently addressed briefly and the rate at which negativity comes knocking at the door is nothing short of unbelievable. In spite of a fantastic Emraan Hashmi, who is one of the few things that this series gets right, I don’t understand why the series couldn’t have been released together. If anything, people wouldn’t have lost all interest in it by waiting for a second part of a show that is already forgettable to begin with.

My biggest gripe is that Showtime tries to bring to the screen these cliched issues that Bollywood has and has always had and tries to cram it into its story. And while I acknowledge that these are things that are grounded in reality, the sheer downpour of Bollywood cliches makes it unbelievably unhinged and a headache to bear.

Showtime Web Series Review: Conclusion

Showtime is a lot of things but after 4 episodes, I couldn’t figure out what it is. The lack of a conclusion is disappointing at best and leaves you wondering what is happening. But then again, not many thrilling things happen in the series that make you want to wait for the next set of episodes. ETA after 7 episodes: the experience doesn’t get any better.

Showtime is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

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