Reality shows have fed the voracious appetites of fans wanting to be a fly on the wall in the lives of the rich and famous, the wheelers and dealers and so forth.
Of course, scripted TV doesn’t have to be boring as a result. It might have been a while back since it aired, but Entourage proved that fictionalised stars could be just as entertaining.
More recently, “Call My Agent: Bollywood”, which is based on the French TV series, “Call My Agent!”, caught my attention.
The characters at ART, a leading talent agency in Mumbai, are so in your face, you can’t help but stay for the drama.
Set in the fast-paced world of the Mecca of filmmaking, where egos and ambitions clash, morality is purged, and success is the holy grail, the cast takes viewers on an emotional roller-coaster as they try to close deals while making their clients happy - and it’s no easy feat.
The agents handle everyone from seasoned to second-rate to up-and-coming and spout profanities left, right and centre.
Internally, there is a huge power struggle between Monty Behl (Rajat Kapoor) and Amal Ahmed (Ahana Kumra), more so when the head of the agency Soumyajit Dasgupta (Tinnu Anand), passes away.
While Treasa Matthews (Soni Razdan) is the most senior, she’s Switzerland when it comes to office politics.
As much as Amal is the queen bee of insults and bitchiness, she has a soft spot for co-working Meher (Ayush Mehra) as he is her BFF.
The series features guest cameos from real-life stars Dia Mirza, Lara Dutta, Lillete Dubey, Farah Khan, Jackie Shroff, Nandita Das and more.
“Call My Agent: Bollywood” is currently streaming on Netflix.