Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan breaks his silence in coltish style at 'The Ba***ds of Bollywood' trailer launch

Dubai: If you want to understand the sheer goodwill that Shah Rukh Khan enjoys, you only had to be at the preview launch of his son Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, The Ba***ds of Bollywood.

There he was — a coltish Aryan — standing centre stage, nervously addressing the media for the very first time. He admitted he’d been practising his lines for two nights and three days straight.

His arsenal of safety nets was both amusing and revealing: a teleprompter, a chit of paper with a torch in case of a blackout, and if all else failed, his father ready to stroll in with a script pasted across his back. The crowd roared, but beneath the humour lay the truth of a young man shouldering enormous expectations.

And expectations are plenty, because The Ba***ds of Bollywood* isn’t just another launch. It’s Aryan’s first big statement as a filmmaker — a satirical, meta take on the very industry he was born into, with celebrity cameos from Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh.

The preview alone had enough tongue-in-cheek moments to suggest Aryan is unafraid to poke fun at Bollywood’s excesses, including a cheeky reference to his own past controversies. For a first-time director, that’s gutsy.

But let’s not pretend this is just another film event. For years, we’ve moaned and groaned about nepotism being the bane of Bollywood — about how star kids often leapfrog over hungrier, more deserving talent. Yet, time and again, we find ourselves hypnotised by dynasties. We crown “star infants” before they can even spell their names, and Aryan’s speech proved no exception. His every gesture was pored over, his voice compared endlessly to his father’s.

What was also on display was parenting pride in its purest form. Aryan even quipped that his mother had produced “both the project and him,” drawing laughter from the room. This wasn’t just a son launching a career; it was a family — Bollywood’s most powerful family — uniting to boost their heir apparent.

The turnout said it all. Media from across India packed the venue, every lens fixed on Aryan. Within hours, reams of coverage flooded timelines, analysing not just the trailer but Aryan’s delivery, his tone, his smile. This wasn’t just a preview; it was a coronation of sorts.

And here’s the detail: while I’m genuinely curious to see fresh blood like Aryan shaking up the industry, it’s equally fascinating to watch how Bollywood dynasties continue to script their legacy.

Suhana Khan’s debut with The Archies left audiences divided, but perhaps this Khan sibling will carve a different path. Aryan, at least, seems intent on doing it behind the camera rather than in front of it — and that choice, in itself, is intriguing.