Showtime Review: Emraan Hashmi, Mouni Roy Starrer Is All Glitter, No Substance

Emraan Hashmi seems to be embracing a career renaissance of sorts, romancing villainous roles with as much zeal as he did his lover boy era. However, his latest attempt with Showtime, is a great disservice to his tryst with dark side.

Hot take

Showtime is a disappointment after Emraan Hashmi's digital debut, Bard Of Blood which released back in 2019. thriller series, despite its shortcomings, still me for a convincing tale reflecting effort.

Showtime unfortunately, has an abundance of former, lacking any trace of latter.

Does Showtime live up to hype?

Though Showtime promised to be a telling insight into inner workings and ever-present power tussles of film industry, overall impact of show so far can best be summarised as hollow.

Stereos galore

Showtime is a satire. Sumit Roy helmed drama satirises basic premise of film industry's dark underbelly fronted by blinding lights - much like 2023 Vikramitya Motwane period series Jubilee, which more or less traversed same path. basic difference between two however, is that latter h well written characters supplemented by honest performances which served as pillars of its premise. former on or hand, is just hyper-focused on melodrama which simply becomes all too much with mish mash of stereos being reinforced.

Melodrama can be a good thing, elevating viewing experience from realm of realism to cinematic grandeur. This does not hold true when makers keep resorting to it as only means of creating any impact. re is nothing wrong with Emraan Hashmi's Raghu Khanna being unabashedly confident, or Mouni Roy's Yasmine Ali using her beauty as currency, or even Rajeev Khandelwal's Armaan assuming his mega-stardom makes him God-like. What is however wrong in all of this, is gala of painfully void characters being me to mouth empty dialogues. 

Name dropping and underutilised potential are Showtime's biggest drawbacks

A thing series does stand out for right from start is stey flow of all too familiar faces waltzing in and out of frame. None of se cameos, despite ir stardom, have any meat. Naseeruddin Shah's Viktor Khanna is disappointing in this regard. Though his demise in very first episode is crucial to plot, having him around for longer could have ded weight to narrative.

Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Prem Chopra, Bshah and even celebrity photographer Dabboo Ratnani make brief appearances, but it ds nothing to story. Rajeev Khandelwal's Armaan could have been significantly fleshed out as a parallel le. actor sly, makes best of limited context of his role. In same breath, Mouni Roy as Yasmine, despite being foremost female name in series, is as good as a guest star.

Stream it or skip it?

Though aforementioned points may persue one orwise, Showtime is not all that b. If you are looking for a mindless television binge-watch session, Showtime may fit bill, provided you hit play button with zero expectations.

Bottomline

Emraan Hashmi is misdirected while Mouni Roy is a prop. You may spot a beloved star for a split second in dime a dozen cameos but y too will fail to digress your attention from poor script.

Rating: 1.5/5