The Nepotism Con — Bollywood Playbook Reloaded
- Sajeev Varghese
- Sep 13
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 4
Indian audiences are being played again.
For decades, the so-called titans of Bollywood — the “goons” who inherited dynasties rather than earned them — have perfected a playbook: sell illusion as reality, hype as substance, and pedigree as talent. They did it with Aditya Chopra (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, 1995) and Karan Johar (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, 1998), both launched on the shoulders of their fathers’ genius. They did it with Shah Rukh Khan, whose charisma was inflated into “acting greatness,” even as scripts bent themselves around his charm.
And now, the con has a shiny new name: The Ba***ds of Bollywood (2025).
Marketed as Aryan Khan’s bold directorial debut, this Netflix series already reeks of the same old formula — a wealthy father pumping fortune, PR spin, and star power into manufacturing credibility for his son. The irony? The show claims to critique nepotism while being the very product of it. With Shah Rukh Khan splashed across the trailer — both literally (cameo role) and metaphorically (financing, branding, pulling strings) — it’s clear this is less Aryan’s “vision” and more a family-backed façade.
The question Indian audiences must ask themselves is this: How long will you let these goons sell you the same recycled con under the guise of innovation? Because every time you fall for the PR blitz, every time you applaud the cameo parade, you’re not just endorsing a film or a series. You’re endorsing the death of authentic storytelling in Indian cinema.
🎭 Part III of the Nepotism Con Playbook: Legacy Over Craft
If the 1990s were about Yash Chopra launching Aditya through DDLJ and Yash Johar launching Karan through KKHH, then 2025 is about Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan orchestrating Aryan Khan’s grand “debut” with Netflix’s The Ba**ds of Bollywood.* The parallels are impossible to ignore — and the myth-making is even more brazen.
Aditya Chopra: The Illusion of Genius
In 1995, Aditya Chopra had no directing or writing background. Yet he was positioned as the wunderkind behind Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. The film’s success owed more to SRK’s rising charisma, Kajol’s authenticity, and Jatin–Lalit’s timeless score than to any untested brilliance. Once Yash Chopra was gone, Aditya’s track record spoke for itself: Thugs of Hindostan, Shamshera, Samrat Prithviraj, Pathaan, War 2. Proof that without his father’s scaffolding, the illusion collapsed.
Karan Johar: The Glitter That Faded
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) is remembered as Karan Johar’s launchpad — but again, it was his father Yash Johar’s Dharma Productions, plus SRK, Kajol, and Rani, that made it tick. The film leaned heavily on gloss and sentimentality. After Yash Johar’s passing in 2004, Dharma under Karan became a packaging factory: Brahmāstra, Liger, Jug Jugg Jeeyo, Rocky Aur Rani, Gehraiyaan. The films dazzled with surface but faltered in substance. The so-called brilliance never matured — because it was never truly there.
Aryan Khan: The Illusion Reloaded
Now comes Aryan Khan. Unlike the Chopras or Johars, Shah Rukh Khan has no experience in writing, directing, or producing. His empire rests on charisma, PR, and a carefully crafted “Badshah” mythology. And yet his son is suddenly unveiled as the writer-director of an entire Netflix series? Common sense rebels. Filmmaking is not mastered through a short course or a family name. It is a demanding craft honed through years of practice, rejection, and relentless refinement.
The far more believable truth: seasoned ghostwriters and directors carried the real load, while Aryan’s name — fronted by Gauri Khan’s production credit and bankrolled by SRK’s fortune — sells the illusion of debut brilliance. The irony is thick: a show supposedly critiquing nepotism, birthed and marketed through the very machinery of nepotism itself.
The Pattern Exposed
Aditya had Yash Chopra’s scaffolding.
Karan had Yash Johar’s gloss.
Aryan has SRK’s wealth and PR might.
Three decades, same con. Legacy ≠ craft. Pedigree ≠ talent. Perception ≠ truth.
📉 The LCD Con
Bollywood thrives on targeting the Lowest Common Denominator (LCD). Inflated numbers and PR stunts become substitutes for real impact. Educated Indians who are knowledgeable of the global filmmaking standards are their worst audiences worldwide. Pathaan (2023), for instance, claimed ₹1026 crore global gross — but at ₹200 per ticket, that’s only 51.3 million viewers, barely 3.5% of India’s population. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer — a three-hour dialogue-heavy film about a physicist — earned $976 million (₹8296 crore) worldwide through word-of-mouth, authenticity, and craft. Go figure...
Which model builds credibility? Which builds legacy?
🎬 Manufactured Mythology: SRK and Swades
Few examples reveal Bollywood’s con game more clearly than the way Swades (2004) was hijacked and repurposed.
Ashutosh Gowariker’s film was celebrated for its honesty and craft, yet years later Netflix, Red Chillies, and YRF stripped a key moment of its context to push Shah Rukh Khan as a real-life savior. The scene of Mohan Bhargava bringing electricity to the fictional village of Charanpur was reframed as “SRK brings electricity to the village.” A powerful work of fiction was reduced to propaganda designed to inflate an actor’s mythology.
This isn’t clever marketing. It’s calculated manipulation — aimed squarely at the lowest common denominator (LCD) of the Indian audience. Intelligent and discerning viewers aren’t the target here, because they can separate performance from reality. Instead, the echo chamber thrives on blurring that line, capitalizing on fandoms that eagerly confuse fiction for fact. Did SRK actually bring electricity to any village? Of course not. But why let truth get in the way when you can reinforce the “Badshah” image and keep the fandom worship alive?
And it works. Many bought into it. Which proves the con remains effective — not because audiences lack intelligence, but because Bollywood banks on never teaching them to demand better. Integrity has little place when personal image-building is the real business model.
The pattern continues. Four years ago, in 2021, Aryan Khan was arrested and spent 26 days in jail for allegedly using recreational drugs at a cruise party. Under rigorous interrogation about chats on his mobile phone, he admitted to consuming drugs for 4 years before his arrest. All charges were later dropped for lack of hard evidence. No parent can be faulted for protecting or rehabilitating their child. But when limitless wealth and industry machinery are at your disposal, the temptation to paint over cracks with a shiny façade is immense. In Bollywood’s insulated echo chamber, where personal gain routinely outweighs artistic integrity, that façade is not just convenient — it’s expected.
It is claimed that Aryan Khan studied directing and filmmaking at the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Cinematic Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2020. If so, The Ba***ds of Bollywood (2025) did not have any sign of tutelage from that fine institution. But it did have Karan Johar's fingerprints all over it. Go figure.
And the fandom? They consume it all. Which is precisely why Indian cinema finds itself stuck: celebrating manufactured myths instead of authentic stories.
✅ Story-First Certification Lens on The Ba***ds of Bollywood
Strengths:
Self-aware commentary on nepotism and privilege.
Relevant subject matter for today’s audiences.
Concerns:
Cameo overload risked eclipsing the story.
Satire turns hypocritical without depth.
The emotional stakes risked being shallow; the characters were ornamental.
Comedy is on a slapstick level that Bollywood thrives on.
Narrative may glorify what it pretends to critique.
It does not redefine meta-Bollywood storytelling and collapses into being just another illusion in costume.
🎯 Why Story-First Intelligence Matters
Indian audiences deserve better.
For too long, dynasties have sold lineage as legacy, wealth as craft, and PR as storytelling. The Ba***ds of Bollywood is glossy, ironic, and loud — but underneath, it’s the same old playbook that launched Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, and now Aryan Khan.
These spectacles waste time, insult intelligence, and drain credibility. While the world celebrates Oppenheimer, Parasite, Drishyam, and Article 15, which celebrate the exceptional talents of the writer/director's vision and execution in filmmaking (storytelling), Bollywood still clings to myths and mirages. In this day and age, the Aryan Khan façade is only a thin veil painted with gloss that crumbles with a thud amongst the exceptional writer-directors of world cinema, who do not need any high-octane marketing stunt to launch their careers. Their movies speak for themselves.
But here’s the truth: the power lies with the audience. Every ticket, every stream, every share signals what kind of cinema will be made next.
To break free, Indian cinema must embrace Story-First Intelligence:
A mindset that honors the writer and the director.
A craft that values structure, character, and emotional truth.
A culture that stops rewarding illusion and starts celebrating authenticity.
Because Indian cinema can either remain trapped in its own echo chamber — or rise as a global storytelling powerhouse.
👉 Are you ready to see your film through the lens of Story-First Intelligence?
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