Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has made a striking and much-talked-about debut with his directorial project The Ba***ds of Bollywood.

The series has quickly become a hot topic across social media, not just for its bold concept but also for the speculation surrounding Aryan’s involvement. Some online users have suggested that the project may have been ghost-directed, claiming Aryan merely lent his name to it.

However, accounts from the cast and crew tell a very different story. Several actors associated with the series have spoken highly of Aryan’s vision, leadership and creative command on set. They described him as deeply involved in every aspect of the production, from scripting and shot composition to guiding performances and overseeing edits.

© Instagram/Sahher Bambba

Sahher Bambba, the leading actress of the series, recently appeared in an interview with Pinkvilla, where she praised her director Aryan Khan and called her a ‘taskmaster’.

About her introduction with Aryan Khan, Sahher said, “Sabse pahle to unhone bahut hi comfortable feel karaya. Main unko ek professional space mein pehli baar mil rahi thi, usse pahle main socially mili hu ek do baar. To mujhe yaad hai mujhe starting se kahani batayi, brief mein, obviously climax chhod ke. Characters ko itne ache se itne passionately unhone explain kiya aur main yehi soch rahi thi ki abhi mere baad aur bhi auditions hain toh itne passionately ek-ek jane ko unhone bataya hoga story ke baare mein, kirdaar ke baare mein ((First of all, he made me feel very comfortable. I was meeting him for the first time in a professional space; before that, I had met him socially a couple of times. So, I remember he told me the story briefly from the beginning, obviously leaving out the climax. He explained the characters so thoroughly and passionately, and I was thinking that there are still more auditions after me, so he must have told every person so passionately about the story and the character.)”

© Netflix

She added, “Mujhe bahut dilchasp lage wo insan, and I was very excited ki agar mujhe mil jata hai Karishma Talvar ka kirdaar to bahut maja aayga inke saath kaam karke. Wo audition bhi bahut lamba chala and baad me itne sweetly mujhe lift tak chhodne aaye, bye bola, toh actually mujhe realise hua ki insan bhi bahut ache hai wo (I found him very interesting and was very excited that if I got the role of Karishma Talwar, it would be a lot of fun working with him. He came so sweetly to drop me off at the lift and say goodbye, that's when I actually realised how nice this guy is.)”

Calling Aryan Khan a taskmaster, Sahher said, “They are the same, but Aryan Khan - The Director obviously bahut hi hard taskmaster hain, kyunki unka jo vision hai, unko waisa hi chahiye. Phir chahe uske liye 10 takes lage, 20 takes lage. Not just with us, wo senior actors ke saath bhi retakes karte the (Aryan Khan - The director is obviously a very hard taskmaster, because he wants his vision exactly as it is. Whether it takes 10 takes or 20 takes, it's not just with us; he used to do retakes with senior actors as well.)”

Helmed by Aryan Khan, The Ba***ds Of Bollywood is a Netflix series which showcases behind-the-scenes of the Hindi film industry using metaphorical humour.

The series stars Lakshya, Bobby Deol and Raghav Juyal in the lead roles.