The first season of Showtime follows the story of Mahika who finds herself to be the legal heir of a studio much to the dismay of Raghu Khanna leading the studio, who intends to stake his claims to the throne. And thus ensues the battle of egos in this game of one-upmanship. The story here aspires to provide an intimate take on the whereabouts of the Hindi Film Industry by discussing its issues and the politics that does transpire in what is essentially a game of ego and power. Yet, the writing lacks the finesse and the nuance while just providing a wider picture of borrowed incidents which are readily available in the public domain. Even the politics of the show which was essentially its core, seemed very ordinary with its setup, almost abruptly resolving a track even before allowing it to simmer. To give you a perspective, the same situation could have been transcended even if a particular situation was for instance setup in a corporate world instead of the film industry. The point being that the exclusivity of the situations was just not there in a screenplay standing at 7 episodes of 30 odd minutes each(and quite brilliantly, Hotstar thought of splitting even this season into two, slow claps).

The drama begins with the introduction of Mahika, a *junior* film critic who is bribed to provide a positive review by an esteemed studio run by Raghu, the legal heir who has differences with his father. But in a twist of fate, it is Raghu’s father who decides to grant all the legal rights of the studio to Mahika, given a family past that he shared with her. And thus begins a battle of ego and power between Raghu and Mahika. Now, I had a fundamental problem with the foundation of the show. It was a matter of convenience to land the character of Mahika so close to the throne from out of nowhere that just didn’t seem to be organic. This, even as the conflicts laid out between characters are indifferent and almost wannabe in nature.

The proceedings are decently crafted but the drama definitely suffers from a wobbly base with respect to the world building and even the characterization. The problem here is that the conflicts are not focused enough, almost being swayed by showcasing the ‘shocking’ events of the industry, most of which are known to the viewers already. The finer detailing as seen on the show ‘Industry’ is missing here in Showtime, even as most events are painted with a broader stroke as compared to them being nuanced with the events created. As a result, the drama lacks basic high points that would usually wow the viewers, instead unfolding at a wavelength that is mid at the very least. The starry tantrums and a mesh of egos was an interesting stance unfolding from a producer’s gaze, even while flirting with a danger of being canned(either with the exit of a star or the financers backing out). But the drama also suffers from weak interpersonal dynamics between character that often stall the building momentum of the show.

The drama soon goes haywire towards the backend even as some of the conflicts are repetitive in nature. Amidst this, there was an interesting subplot of a financer willing to take over the studio should Mahika agree to launch his son. For me, that conflict was a little novel given that the writing had quite a few directions to unravel with respect to its resolution. But the show meets with such an abrupt end almost being amateurish with its writing that threatens but never really takes off, while indulging in always on the surface with situations that aren’t exactly impressive or unique to the world that they are set in. Overall, the screenplay is pretty average and never really digs into the finer details of the world that often does paint a fascinating picture for most outsiders.