Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives Review: The third instalment of Karan Johar’s Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives – now titled Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives – is a power struggle between privilege and more privilege. However, the only one losing this battle is the audience. Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, Shalini Passi and Kalyani Saha join Maheep Kapoor, Neelam Kothari, Bhavana Panday and Seema Sajdeh on this blingy season; and as they say, too many cooks spoil the broth.
The third season of the show relies on the age-old ‘Delhi vs Mumbai’ trope but has nothing new to add to the conversation besides how people in these cities dress and talk. This overarching theme even feels forced in many places. In the first few episodes of the show, the seven women spend time in Delhi’s posh locales but it is evident that no one is interested in the setting. In fact, the ‘Mumbai girls’ often make it seem that they were sent to Delhi as a punishment. Although the ‘reality’ show feels glaringly staged in every frame, there has been no effort given to hide this disinterest.
Then enters Karan Johar, who holds yet another mini Koffee With Karan-style intervention with the women. Before meeting them, he performs an over-the-top skit for the camera, taking shots at the show. However, the entire segment feels engineered and unnecessary. Even adding Orry to the show feels a bit much as he has no real connection with the Bollywood wives, except that he is Seema’s son’s friend.
Unlike the first two seasons of the show, which became a guilty pleasure with their humorous moments of delusion interspersed with relatability, the third season fails to deliver the same ‘masala’. What made the first two seasons work was the real life camaraderie among the four Bollywood wives. However, the ‘Delhi girls’ do not match the hype because they are not close friends in reality, so there is no real tension.
The entire season feels like a rough draft of the actual show. There is no high-octane drama and even the mild interactions between the women feel scripted. Even Maheep Kapoor and Seema Sajdeh’s antics fail to save the show. The only factor even remotely interesting is Shalini Passi’s vague, confident demeanour and unattainable lifestyle. But it is impossible to make a successful show entirely on fringes. None of the women, old or new, leave any impact on the show. In fact, it feels more like a marketing reel for cafes than a show where women bare it all to the audience.
Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives feels like a step backwards in the direction of ‘guilty pleasure’ Indian reality shows. While it is not entirely wise to expect too much from a show of this genre, we know Karan Johar is more than capable of making us love watching rich people deal with problems in their white mansions. Additionally, using Saif Ali Khan as a trailer bait and then delivering dud is very disappointing.
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