Showtime is a series that delves into the world of Bollywood, production houses and how they function. Features the power struggles and off-camera fights occurring in the backstage areas of Bollywood.[3][8]
Cast
Naseeruddin Shah as Viktor Khanna, a former producer and founder of Viktory Studios, Raghu's father, Mahika's maternal grandfather
Emraan Hashmi as Raghu Khanna, a producer, Viktor and Sarika's son, Mahika's maternal half-uncle
Mahima Makwana as Mahika Nandy, a journalist turned producer, Viktor and Devika's granddaughter, Paromita's daughter, Raghu's half-niece
Mouni Roy as Yasmine Ali, an item girl, Raghu's girlfriend
Rajeev Khandelwal as Armaan Singh, a Bollywood superstar, Mandira's husband
Shriya Saran as Mandira Singh, a former actress, Armaan's wife
Vishal Vashishtha as Prithvi, a writer and employee of Viktory studios, Mahika's boyfriend
Vijay Raaz as Saajan Morarka, an industrialist and alcohol baron
Gurpreet Saini as Ziko, Raghu's loyal employee
Denzil Smith as Deven, Viktor's friend and loyal employee
Neeraj Madhav as Satya Krishnan; a critically acclaimed writer and filmmaker
Vandana Joshi as Meena Chandra; actress in the film '1857'
Payal Arora as Surbhi, Prithvi’s sister
Akshay Anand Kohli as Parth, Surbhi’s husband
Lovkesh Solanki as Montu Morarka, Saajan's Son
Shataf Figar as Rustom Boxwala, an investor and founder of Regal Star Studios
Lillete Dubey as Sarika Khanna, Viktor's second wife, Raghu's mother
Guest
List of actors and filmmakers who appeared in cameos.[9]
The first teaser featuring all the star cast was released on 20 December 2023.[10] Further, on 9 February 2024, the release date was announced to be 8 March.[11] On 13 February 2024, the trailer featuring star cast was launched.[12][13][14]
Broadcast
The first four episodes were released on 8 March 2024. Next three episodes were released on 12 July 2024.[15][16][17][18]
Reception
Critical Reception
It received mixed-to-positive reviews with praise for its production design, dialogues and performances, while its writing received polarizing response.
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the series a 2.5 rating by stating, "The principal quintet of actors in Showtime is a diverse lot who bring different performative styles to bear upon the characters that they play."[19]
Devansh Sharma of Hindustan Times says, "Showtime also works as a spot-the-reference spectator sport because of how zeitgeisty it is. Dialogue writers Jehan Handa and Karan Sharma oscillate from bombarding the audience with the obvious to allowing them to read between the lines."[20]
Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com rates the show 2.5 and states, "But with only four episodes out and a loose sense of a conflict, it's hard to form a definite opinion about a show that is always watchable but never engrossing."[21]
While Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in states, "There isn’t enough hard work, at least from the
available episodes, to understand just yet whether Showtime is the expose we have been waiting for or yet another half-hearted effort to lure us in by promising dirt. The series fares well when it aims for low-hanging fruit, such as the silly things that Bollywood people do because they can’t see beyond their noses."[22]
Rahul Dessai of Film Companion in the Part 1 review says, "Somewhere along the way, intent morphs into blind-item content - content that makes it hard to tell a publicity spot from actual series."[23]
Shubhra Gupta from Indian Express rated the show 2 stars, and stated, "Karan Johar’s by-the-number series on Bollywood’s inner workings lacks bite."[24]
Snigdha Nalini from Outlook India rates the show 2.5 stars and says, "There are no revelations, nothing too dramatic."[25]
Viewership
Showtime appears twice in the top-5 most-viewed list shows of the week clocking 5.7 million views and 4.4 million views, respectively.[26][27]
