Emraan Hashmi describes his Showtime character as ‘in your face, impulsive, volatile, cocksure and a brat’; says, “His only yardstick for a film success is box office”

Emraan Hashmi plays the lead Raghu Khanna in this upcoming glamorous web-series about BTS of Bollywood and nepotism.

February 29, 2024 - 5:34 PM IST

Disney+ Hotstar and Dharmatic Entertainment is all set to come together for much-awaited series, Showtime, which releases next month. The show is expected to trace the world of glamour, money, business along with the intricacies of relationships and lifestyle all set against the backdrop of BTS of Bollywood. While we got a glimpse of how this is going to be in the trailer that released earlier this month, leading man Emraan Hashmi is all set to take us deeper into the world of this web-series, and more importantly, his character Raghu Khanna.

Emraan Hashmi describes his Showtime character as ‘in your face, impulsive, volatile, cocksure and a brat’; says, “His only yardstick for a film success is box office”

As the trailer hints, Emraan Hashmi plays the cutting-edge character Raghu Khanna who is a popular star, producer, and also what people like to term as ‘Bollywood royalty’ in the show. Elaborating on his role, Emraan Hashmi said, “Raghu Khanna is your quintessential Mass Bollywood producer, and he believes in that brand of cinema unwavering. He is someone who would prefer your front benchers and Seeti and Taaliyas in cinema halls to critic reviews for his films. His only yardstick for a film success is box office and commerce, that side of the game. He is in your face, impulsive, volatile, cocksure and a brat. He can do anything to sell a film, his life prioritizes films first and people come second to that.”

Further speaking about the bond Raghu shares with his father, played by Nasseruddin Shah, Emraan added, “The beautiful and interesting fulcrum in this show, apart from the other things, is that a certain dysfunctionality in the relationship of the father and son with a bit of an undercurrent which you gradually come to know through the show, with a bit of catharsis in Raghu's character also through these episodes, but it starts off from the dysfunctionality of their family and personal relationship and also it seeps into their different outlooks to how cinema should be. There's all this constant friction, which is one of the fulcrums of the show. Raghu's basic mantra is fair means if possible, unfair means if necessary, to get his films out there and make them successful at the box office.”

Created by Sumit Roy, with showrunner Mihir Desai also directing it along with Archit Kumar, Showtime features Mahima Makwana as the leading lady along with Mouni Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Shriya Saran, Vishal Vashishtha, Neeraj Madhav, Vijay Raaz, among others in pivotal roles. The screenplay is written by Sumit Roy, Mithun Gangopadhyay and Lara Chandni whereas the dialogues are written by Jehan Handa and Karan Shrikant Sharma. Showtime will stream from March 8 onwards exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar.

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