‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’: Aryan Khan’s Industry Send-up Is Both Biting Satire and Big, Filmy Fun

At the end of Episode 1 of “The Ba***ds of Bollywood,” I cackled so loudly that I startled my editor.

That’s the premiere of Aryan Khan’s Netflix series which ends with the line “Say no to drugs,” spoken directly into camera as a deliciously cheeky reference to Khan’s own 2021 drug charges that led to nearly a month of jail time. Back then, even being the son of Hindi film industry royalty (Shah Rukh Khan) couldn’t help — but now, it’s given a voice to one of the most promising talents in Bollywood.

“The Ba***ds of Bollywood” follows the rising star of Aasmaan Khan (Lakshya), an industry outsider with a massive hit on his hands and offers rolling in left and right. In the midst of a precarious contract situation, he nabs a leading role with director Karan Johar (played by himself) and Karishma Talwar (Sahher Bambba…