After the success of ‘Bard of Blood’ on Netflix, Emraan Hashmi is back with his next project on the digital platform. The new series from Dharmatic Entertainment tells the stories of various Bollywood celebs and their struggles to stay at the top of their game.
On February 13, the makers released the trailer of the upcoming web series Showtime, which will reveal the dark secrets of Bollywood. The Disney+Hotstar show features an ensemble cast including Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Mahima Makwana, Mouni Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Shriya Saran, and Vijay Raaz.
In the trailer, Imran is seen playing the role of an influential filmmaker named Raghu Khanna. Mahima Makwana plays the role of Mahika Nandi, who discusses topics like nepotism on television.
In one of the most important scenes of the trailer, Imran tells Mahima, “Behind the mask of nepotism, ultimately every outsider wants to become an insider.” To which Mahima replied, “You sell the goods, I will make films.”
Produced by Sumit Roy and directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar, Showtime calls it an “epic saga of legacy and ambition in the world of cinema, giving audiences a glimpse of what’s behind the multi-million dollar Will give.
Interestingly, the show is produced by Karan Johar, who himself has been accused of allegedly promoting nepotism in the Hindi film industry, under Dharma Productions’ digital wing – Dharmatic Entertainment.
Starring Lillete Dubey, Vishal Vashishtha, Neeraj Madhav, Gurpreet Saini and Denzil Smith, Showtime will start streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from March 8. The show has been written by Sumit Roy, Lara Chandni, Mithun Gangopadhyay. Anand Bhaskar has composed the music for the web series.
Talking about the web series, Emraan said that the show will take viewers into the world of Bollywood from the perspective of the studio system, the producer’s chair and introduce them to “amazing, creative talents”.
The actor further said, “This show is about Bollywood, there are a lot of things in it in which we have followed the main story. It’s about star egos, what it means to be a woman in this industry, how a film is made, what conversations happen in a producer’s office while making a film. It exposes those weaknesses.