Showtime Volume 2 Review - Bollywood Tadka Is Back With Not So Bang!

Showtime Volume 2 Review: Volume 2 of the first season of Showtime consists of just 3 more episodes after what we saw in Volume 1 (4 episodes). Continuing the same form, Showtime exposes more secrets and dirty tricks from the inside of Bollywood "studios" and the personal lives of stars, producers, and item girls.

Just like volume one, this one too has some fantastic dialogues and dramatic sequences that elevate the notion further, and you are sure to get hooked on them for close to 2 hours. However, the conclusion isn't really worthy and gets too corny and repetitive. Like we all know, the main protagonist also believes, "Purani kahavat hai,. Dushman ka Dushman dost hota hai." I am like, Let's not sell the same shiit again.

Raghu (Emraan Hashmi) is on a victory march as his latest film, Screw Dheela (it was actually the name of a Dharma film that got shelved in real), turns out to be a blockbuster. Mahika (Mahima Makwana) is tensed because things are not going well with Viktory Studios and because she has also become a part of dirty tricks played within the industry. At the same time, she wants to compete with Raghu, who has found success after parting ways with Viktory.

On the other hand, Yasmine (Mouni Roy) has left the town without saying a word, and Raghu is going mad about her. Superstar Armaan (Rajeev Khandelwal) has damaged his own image in public and has also damaged his relationship with his wife, Mandira (Shriya Saran). In the meantime, Mahika has spoiled her purity, and her relationship with Prithvi (Vishal Vashishtha) is about to end. Saajan (Vijay Raaz) has been denied by both Mahika and Raghu, so he has some plans to destroy them. Who will win?

Showtime Volume 2's screenplay has a solid grip because they haven't stretched anything up to that point. With each episode having a runtime of 35 minutes, Showtime V2 makes perfect use of our time. It's engaging, it's entertaining, but most importantly, it's very exposing. It takes guts to share all those dirty secrets with the public. Even we journalists are not allowed to write about them, and that's how PR and production's marketing work. Showtime breaks that rule for good, I believe. From hereon, maybe some of those will stop using those tricks now?

The performances are somewhat the same as they were in Volume 1, because I think they must have shot it in one go already. Emraan Hashmi as Raghu is solid, Mahima Makwana continues a good form with a few overacted moments, Rajeev Khandelwal is superb, Shriya makes a strong comeback, Vijay Raaz never disappoints, Vishal is consistent, and others are okay, but Mouni Roy disappoints.

Speaking of plus points, Showtime Volume 2 has some hilarious dialogue that includes abusive words, but you are going to enjoy it. "Baap pe Gaya naa, to uski Kasam, Maa *****" You know what I mean. "You can't gift elephant shiit to Salman, G***" You know how it goes. Here's a small spoiler, but I think I should give it away because it's that funny. So, this superstar Armaan (Rajeev) recreated Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat Balcony moment here, but the follow-up was unexpected.

Pushpa: The Fire 1 had become Kamal: The Fire, we know, but here he mentioned "Bunny." That's Allu Arjun's pet name, man. These are a few moments that make this one an entertaining affair; the rest of the show remains strictly average. To everyone's surprise, the show ends abruptly and feels so incomplete. This coming-together formula is so boring and outdated, man. You can't just end such a sensational show with this. I'd rather prefer 90s TV dramas over that climax.

Sumit Roy has created a world that many wouldn't have dared to create, and I don't think anyone but Dharma can produce it. Taking it from Bollywood and giving it back to Bollywood was really a gutsy thing. But unfortunately, the mainstream drama and some impure segments spoiled the fun. Having one character with several platonic and sexual affairs is acceptable, but having almost all the main characters go through the same is unacceptable.

In one scene, Raghu denies Mandira's sexual advances, and I was like, "Wow, man. At least somebody is loyal to somebody." Then, we have Mahika getting spoiled and even having it spoken out arrogantly in front of her boyfriend. Excuse me, that wasn't a thing to be proud of, you bi***. And after that, she was crying, and were we supposed to feel sympathetic towards her? Nope, not happening. Showtime Volume 2 suffers from this dysfunctional criteria of emotions and drama that the creator has given too much importance to. The main focus should have been to let us feel pity and anger for those characters, not love or sympathize with them. The equation went wrong, even though the earlier number game was damn interesting.