The Ba***ds of Bollywood aka The Bads of Bollywood was released on Netflix on September 19, 2025, and ever since then it has been buzzing among fans. Created by Aryan Khan, The Ba***ds of Bollywood is a satirical series that brings out the dark reality of Bollywood such as nepotism, behind the scenes politics that take place in a movie, etc.
Directed by Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, The Ba***ds of Bollywood aka The Bads of Bollywood revolves around an actor who is outsider named Aasmaan Singh played by Lakshya Lalwani who went onto become a Bollywood star.
Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop assumes that you have already watched the series digging deep into who is real life Freddy Sodawala? Continue reading below-
Well, Aryan Khan has clearly mentioned that the series is fictional in nature, but he has used multiple real life references and incidents in the Netflix series. As a result, fans are digging deep who is real life Freddy Sodawala played by actor Manish Chaudhari?
In fact, Reddit has started a discussion around it with the claims that Freddy Sodawala's character is inspired by Aditya Chopra of YRF.
A Reddit page has shared a post that reads, "Not Nadiadwala, but Adi Chopra who is roasted.
Yeah, as a smokescreen - the obnoxious, ruthless producer's name is Ba***ds of Bollywood is kept as Sodawala for most people to think that it's roasting Sajid. But there are enough Easter eggs to suggest it's actually Adi Chopra who Aryan is roasting.
Yash Chopra's iconic photo reference in Sodawala's office.
Adi's infamous three-movie-contract rotting talent policy.
Adi trying hard to get SRK to do a movie for YRF after Fan's debacle. Sodawala trying hard to get Superstar Bobby to a movie., referring to their glorious initial collaborations.
Sodawala treating his staff as s*it. YRF's toxic work culture is known in the trade."
Some users argue that Freddy is not based on one individual but rather a hybrid of several industry titans, including Bhushan Kumar, Ronnie Screwvala, Karan Johar, and Rajiv Rai.
One user observed, “It’s a mix of multiple people. Adi doesn’t dress as flamboyantly; that reminds you of Bhushan Kumar. The name itself is a riff on Nadiadwala. And him losing 51% to Jarj is a riff on Dharma and Kjo.”
One more user wrote, "Also the constant claim that he invent Ajay Talwar parallels the amount of time Adi Chopra has credited YRF for SRK's success because they saw the romantic hero in him. Ajay Talwar did seem like a bit of a SRK archetype."
"It is a mixture of different directors/producers..Aditya Chopra + Ronnie Screwala + Rajiv Rai + others" wrote another user.
Disclaimer- The true inspiration behind Freddy Sodawala remains unconfirmed, however, The Ba**ds of Bollywood has succeeded in sparking a discussion.