“Don’t get lost in the glitz and glam of Bollywood,” warns a voiceover in the trailer of Dharmatic Entertainment’s upcoming Disney+ Hotstar series Showtime, starring Emraan Hashmi, Mahima Makwana, Naseeruddin Shah and Mouni Roy as members of the highly competitive film fraternity.

Dropped by the makers on Wednesday, the two-minute-four-second-long trailer introduces the characters played by Emraan, Mahima, Mouni and Naseeruddin who go about their daily lives in the industry. Through their regular routine of shooting, attending promotional events and greeting fans, we are presented with an inside view of movie stars grappling with fame, internal politics and dark secrets.

Emraan plays the role of an influential film producer, Raghu Khanna, who has worked day and night to turn his studio into a one-of-a-kind production house. However, he is deemed unworthy of the position by those in power.

While Mahima’s TV reporter covers topics like nepotism in Bollywood and reviews Bollywood films with honesty, Naseeruddin’s rich businessman sees cinema as a religion.

Mouni’s role in the series remains in the dark. From what we can gather from the trailer, the actress plays an actor-dancer, who tries to explain to Emraan why he should not get back at Mahima for her investigative report.

The trailer also shows Rajeev Khandelwal as a Bollywood star in the series. Drunk with power and fame, Rajeev believes that the “only god in Bollywood is the star”.

Sharing the trailer on Instagram, Dharmatic Entertainment founder Karan Johar wrote, “Cinema aur pardein ke peeche ka cinema!#HotstarSpecials #Showtime streaming March 8th only on Disney+ Hotstar.”

Created by Sumit Roy, Showtime is directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar. The series will mark Disney+ Hotstar and Dharmatic Entertainment’s second collaboration after Karan’s celebrity chat show, Koffee With Karan, which is currently streaming on the platform.

Showtime will premiere on Disney+ Hotstar on March 8.