Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, received the Best Debutant Director of the Year award at the NDTV Indian of the Year 2025 in New Delhi on Friday, marking his first major professional accolade. The award recognises his directorial debut, The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, which has been praised for its fresh and irreverent take on the Hindi film industry.

Taking the stage, Aryan expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his team, saying, “First of all, I would like to thank my cast, crew and Netflix who trusted a first-time director so much and worked with me with so much love, hard work and enthusiasm. Congratulations to all the winners tonight. This is my first award. And I hope I will get many more awards. Because like my dad, I also like awards a lot. But this award is not for him.”

The young director then dedicated the honor to his mother, Gauri Khan, adding humorously, “This award is for my mom because my mom always tells me to sleep early, not to make fun of people, and not to use abusive language. And today, for all these things, NDTV has given me this award. I know, I will get less scolding at home today.”

The ceremony was also a special moment for Aryan’s grandmother, Savita Chhibber, who watched him accept the award with tears in her eyes. “I’m very happy. May he be very successful. My blessings to him. I love you the most. I’m so proud. At this age, I’m just hearing my grandson and his achievement has been honoured by the whole country,” she said. Aryan promised that his next award would be dedicated to her.

The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, which debuted on Netflix on September 18, 2025, features Lakshya Lalwani, Raghav Juyal, Sahher Bambba, Bobby Deol, Anya Singh, Mona Singh, and Manoj Pahwa. The series explores Bollywood’s internal power struggles and the challenges faced by newcomers in the industry. Recently, it was named IMDb’s Most Popular Indian Series of 2025, underscoring Aryan’s successful directorial debut.

Actor Bobby Deol, who plays a key role in the series, praised Aryan’s talent, saying, “He is a very good actor. If he hadn’t been an actor, he wouldn’t have been able to extract work from us the way he did. He understands it. Itna talented hai woh bachcha! When I first saw the teaser, I called and told him, ‘You know what I will miss about you on the show? You as an actor.’ He has a persona and a personality; yes, he looks like his father, but he is not his father. He is totally different, and people will realise that eventually.”

Bobby also recalled their first meeting a year prior to filming: “It felt so nice to see this boy; he has been through so much. There was a spark in him that made him want to achieve something. When I met him for work, it was a seven-hour-long narration. The way he narrated it to me was with so much conviction and humour. Even on set, where chaos is inevitable, he would never get distracted or irritated. He would never lose his cool and would always be relaxed. That is something unbelievable for someone of his age.”

With The Ba**ds of Bollywood* already earning acclaim, Aryan Khan’s first steps behind the camera signal a promising journey ahead for the young director, whose blend of humour, dedication, and vision is winning hearts both on and off-screen.