What To Watch If You Loved Ba**ds Of Bollywood

There’s something delicious about watching the circus of cinema laid bare on screen. Maybe it’s because we secretly crave the gossip behind the gloss. Maybe it’s because watching stars, producers, and hangers-on implode makes us feel a little smug about our own office politics. Or maybe we just love an industry vain enough to parody itself.

When Aryan Khan’s The Ba**ds of Bollywood released, curiosity was always going to guarantee a watch — the son of India’s biggest superstar deciding to make his debut not in front of the camera, but by roasting the industry that raised him.

But the show turned out to be far sharper than anyone expected. Across seven episodes, it follows the rise of Aasman Singh, an outsider-turned-reluctant superstar, while gleefully skewering everything Bollywood holds sacred. Nepotism wars, box-office Fridays, coked-up producers, and fragile egos — nothing is spared. Aryan even goes meta, cheekily inserting himself into the narrative with jokes about his own past controversies. As a result, we get satire that’s not just about Bollywood but also about the absurdity of believing in Bollywood. It’s messy, irreverent, and self-aware in a way Hindi entertainment almost never allows itself to be.

Then look west. Seth Rogen’s The Studio has done for Hollywood what Aryan’s debut is doing for Mumbai. The shaggy-haired comedian you once wrote off as a weed joke machine now holds four Emmys, including one for acting. That’s how sharp The Studio is. Rogen plays an embattled studio head torn between his love for movies and the corporate overlords who see them only as IP machines and product-placement opportunities. The cameos are savage, the long takes are masterful, and the humour slices through the Hollywood myth.

Together, The Bads of Bollywood* and The Studio have confirmed the obvious: we can’t get enough of shows that strip the glamour off film industries and show us the rot beneath. They’re both industry roasts and accidental love letters.

And honestly? Watching the people who make movies fall apart on screen might be the best entertainment the industry has ever produced.

So, if you’ve already binged Aryan’s insider takedown and Rogen’s Hollywood satire, here are the next shows you need to queue up.

Entourage (2004–2011)

Entourage (2004–2011)IMDb

Loosely based on Mark Wahlberg’s early years in Hollywood, the show chronicles Vincent Chase and his crew as they surf the highs and humiliations of stardom. Cameos came thick and fast (James Cameron directing Aquaman, anyone?) and Entourage nailed the manic-depressive rhythm of Hollywood life.

Hacks (2021–)

Hacks (2021–)IMDb

Hollywood isn’t only brutal to actors. Ask comedians. Hacks pits Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance — a Vegas stand-up icon fighting irrelevance — against Hannah Einbinder’s Ava, a young writer too self-righteous for her own good. Their uneasy partnership skewers sexism, ageism, and the cynical ecosystem that props up careers while burying others. It’s sharp, feminist, and hilariously mean.

The Larry Sanders Show (1992–1998)

The Larry Sanders Show (1992–1998)

Garry Shandling’s late-night host was vain, neurotic, and perpetually threatened by his sidekick. Real celebrities showed up as grotesque versions of themselves, long before it was trendy. Without Larry Sanders, there’s no Studio 60, no 30 Rock, no The Studio. This was HBO before HBO became a lifestyle brand.

BoJack Horseman (2014–2020)

BoJack Horseman (2014–2020)

Don’t let the cartoon horse fool you — this is the bleakest, smartest show ever made about fame. BoJack is a washed-up sitcom star drowning in self-loathing, addiction, and the desperate need for validation. Yes, the characters are animals. Yes, there are dumb jokes about peanut butter. But beneath the surrealism lies the ugliest truths about Hollywood’s cycle of exploitation and self-destruction. No show has captured the industry’s rot so well — or made it so funny.

The Studio (2024–)

You’ve probably already watched it. If not, fix that. Seth Rogen plays a studio exec torn between art and commerce, but the real joy is how shamelessly the show skewers modern Hollywood. Every brand tie-in, every corporate note, every delusional starlet is shredded.