Aryan Khan marked a major milestone on December 19, 2025, as he won Best Debutant Director of the Year for his Netflix series The Ba**ds of Bollywood* at the NDTV Indian of the Year 2025 event in New Delhi.
Accepting the award, Aryan thanked his cast, crew and the platform for backing him as a first-time director.
He then delivered the line that drew the biggest reaction in the room:
“Like my dad, I do like awards a lot. But this one isn’t for him.”
Instead, he dedicated the trophy to his mother, Gauri Khan, adding that she keeps him grounded with simple reminders—sleep early, behave well, and don’t make fun of people—before joking that he might get “less scolding” at home that night.
A debut that chose direction over the expected route
Aryan’s entry into the industry has stood out because he didn’t lead with acting. He stepped behind the camera, launching his first big outing as creator-director on a project positioned as a self-aware, satirical look at Bollywood’s chaos and contradictions.
The series—listed by Netflix as a seven-episode title and co-created by Aryan Khan alongside Bilal Siddiqi and Manav Chauhan—follows an ambitious outsider navigating a larger-than-life industry ecosystem.
What colleagues are saying
Actor Arshad Warsi, who appears in the show, has praised Aryan’s clarity on set—saying he’s the kind of director who always has a film playing in his head and knows exactly what he wants from a scene.
The show’s buzz: meta humour, punchlines—and a viral scene
Since release, The Ba**ds of Bollywood* has generated strong online chatter for its pop-culture references and sharp industry spoofing. It also topped IMDb’s “most popular Indian shows of 2025” list, according to NDTV’s report and broader coverage around the ranking.
One sequence that became widely shared features a loud, moralising “anti-drugs” cop delivering a monologue about a “war on drugs,” which many viewers interpreted as a pointed parody of former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede—a reading amplified by viral clips and explainer reports.
Wankhede has also publicly objected to how the scene portrays anti-drug officials, with reports noting he considered legal measures.
Characters that viewers latched onto
Beyond the headline-making moments, audiences have also responded to supporting characters—particularly Rajat Bedi’s Jaraj Saxena, with interviews noting the nostalgia factor around his earlier work (including Koi… Mil Gaya) and his return via Aryan’s project.
Streaming momentum
On performance, it is safest to state that the show registered a strong chart presence, including appearing consistently on Netflix Top 10 ranking trackers (as reported via FlixPatrol-based coverage), rather than making a precise “#1 in 24 hours” claim unless you have platform screenshots.
A milestone moment, with a clear personal stamp
Aryan Khan’s first major award night underlined the persona he’s projecting early in his career—low-key, slightly cheeky, and team-first. He credited collaborators, kept the speech light, and made the dedication personal without turning it performative.
By – Charu Mandhyan