[15][16][17][18] Showtime received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its production design, dialogues and performances, but were polarised about its writing.
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the series a 2.5 rating stating, "The principal quintet of actors in Showtime is a diverse lot who bring different performative styles to bear upon the characters that they play.
Dialogue writers Jehan Handa and Karan Sharma oscillate from bombarding the audience with the obvious to allowing them to read between the lines.
"[21] While Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in states, "There isn’t enough hard work, at least from the available episodes, to understand just yet whether Showtime is the expose we have been waiting for or yet another half-hearted effort to lure us in by promising dirt.
"[23] Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated the show 2 stars, and stated, "Karan Johar’s by-the-number series on Bollywood’s inner workings lacks bite.