Bombay Begums is a story of 5 ambitious women navigating through the highs and lows of life. In the opening scene, we’re introduced to the first Bombay Begum, Rani played by Pooja Bhatt. She poses for a photo shoot along with her husband and kids in her posh house. The kids, Zuravar and Shai are Rani’s step-children and their mother, Zenobia, is no more. Shai is the second Bombay Begum. She is distant and shy from the family and mostly finds refuge in her sketchbook. Her monologue about different ideas of women runs on and off in the episode.

Next, we see the third Bombay Begum, Fatima (played by Shahana Goswami) with her husband Arijay. They are at the doctor’s clinic for Fatima’s ultrasound since she is pregnant. We learn that this is their fifth IVF attempt and their last chance to become parents.

Fatima and Arijay work at the same place – Royal Bank. Arijay is in a junior position to that of Fatima and is looking for a promotion so that Fatima can stay at home after the baby’s arrival.

Rani is the CEO of Royal Bank. She is in a board meeting with top employees and they discuss a new scheme to be rolled out by the bank. Suddenly, Rani becomes breathless and dizzy. The employees check if she is okay.

Fatima has an important meeting which becomes a success as she closes a profitable deal. However, due to a mistake by her junior, Fatima has to negotiate more with the client. After the deal is closed, Fatima fires the junior, Ayesha. Played by Plabita Borthakur, Ayesha is the fourth Bombay Begum.

Rani and Fatima have lunch in Rani’s office. Rani offers her a promotion to a very senior position but Fatima is hesitant. She declines at the moment since she thinks she isn’t ready for it with the baby coming. Rani tells her to think about it.

Ayesha is from Indore who lives as a paying guest in Bombay. Over a video call, her parents tell her about a boy for marriage. She doesn’t tell her parents that she has lost her job. After the call, she starts drinking.

Fatima reaches home from work. All her friends are present at her place for a get-together. A friend tells her about her start-up. At that moment, Arijay spills wine on Fatima’s shirt not-so-accidentally. Her friends ask her about her plans after the baby’s arrival. Arijay answers that for her by saying that Fatima would stay home with the baby. Fatima tells everyone about the position that Rani offered her earlier in the day. All her friends hype her up but Arijay doesn’t seem pleased.

Now, comes the fifth Bombay Begum, Lily played by Amruta Subhash. She is a sex worker and Zuravar is at her place to lose his virginity. On his way back, he encounters an accident wherein a boy is injured. Turns out, the boy is Lily’s son. Zuravar is with his parents outside the police station when Lily comes and demands compensation from them. She asks for ₹10 lakh in cash, ₹20 lakh in her bank account along with compensation for all medical expenses of her son. To save her image and avoid any media scandal, Rani agrees. Lily, whose real name is Laxmi, lies to the police about the accident. Rani and her husband, Naushad, scold Zuravar for indulging in a sexual act with a ‘woman like Lily’ through whom he could contract STDs.

The next morning, Zuravar is given an injection. Shai sees this and asks Rani the reason behind it. Rani brushes it off and tries to make conversation with her about Shai’s school. I wonder what is going on here?

At her school, Shai sees some girls clicking pictures of their bosoms. She becomes insecure about not having big bosoms like them.

At work, Rani has a meeting with Deepak, a senior employee. She asks for his full support to build the bank together.

Fatima receives an official mail from the HR of the bank about the details of her promotion.

Lily is at the hospital where her son is admitted. He has a fracture in his leg. She tells her son to not tell anybody  the ‘truth’ about what happened. It seems that the accident was deliberate with the aim of extorting money from Rani.

Drowning in her sorrow of losing her job, Ayesha copes by drinking and smoking in her PG. The landlady enters her room and sees her condition. Enraged, she evicts Ayesha from the PG. Just another instance of society not being able to digest that a woman can drink or smoke!

Alone in the streets on a rainy night in Bombay, Ayesha struggles to find a place. She manages to enter the bank’s building and spends the night there with her luggage.

The next morning, Rani meets a crying Ayesha in the washroom of the bank. Ayesha tells the CEO her story and Rani calls her to her office.

Ayesha eats breakfast in Rani’s office. While talking, Ayesha says women should have solid financial support to build something of their own. This gives Rani an idea. She re-hires Ayesha in the CSR department of the bank and gets her to lead a welfare scheme for underprivileged women.

Next, we see Ayesha move into Anand and Gurpreet’s house. Anand is her ex-boyfriend who lives with his girlfriend, Gupreet. Gurpreet isn’t welcoming and eyes Ayesha. At night, Ayesha and Anand hook up.

Arijay asks Fatima whether she spoke to HR to decline the job offer. When Fatima replies in the negative, Arijay himself calls HR and makes Fatima turn down the promotion. Arijay is clearly jealous of his wife’s success.

Ayesha is happy and daydreams about her success. Ron, another CSR department employee, witnesses her excitement.

Lily takes her son to a school for his admission. However, the fact that she is a dancer doesn’t go down well with the principal. Even after having the fee money, Lily’s son is denied admission. Her son tells her that she should’ve lied about her profession.

Fatima contemplates the great promotional opportunity that stands at her door. It looks like her heart isn’t ready to forgo the offer.

In the next scene, we’re taken to a party hosted by Rani. Ayesha is also present and she notices Deepak. She wants to work with him and thus, goes up to Deepak to introduce herself. Fatima enters and sees that Ayesha is back.

Fatima apologises to Rani for turning down her offer. Rani gives her a piece of advice - that if her marriage is restricting her career growth then it is not worthwhile. The next moment, Rani announces Fatima as the new Deputy MD of the bank. Everybody congratulates her but her husband is green with envy.

Surprisingly, Lily comes to Rani’s party and Rani takes her inside a room. Lily makes Rani realise what all is at stake for Rani if Lily blows the whistle about Zuravar. In the same breath, Lily says that she wants respect and not just money from Rani.

Fatima and Arijay reach home. Arijay is angry with her and Fatima tries to explain that Rani made the announcement before Fatima got the time to find Arijay and tell him herself.

Rani is stressed due to the added pressure of Lily’s blackmail. She rants to Naushad about how Deepak is after the CEO position and now she also has to deal with the drama of Naushad’s kids. This angers Naushad.

Ayesha stays late at the party and starts talking to the party’s singer. Ayesha and the singer girl hit it off and there is some sexual tension between them.

In the last scene, Fatima is sleeping at her home when she notices bloodstains on her shorts. Oh no! Fatima has a miscarriage.

The first episode of Bombay Begums is a bit slow and sloppy. Although it doesn’t keep the audience hooked, it is watchable.

Episode Rating: 2.5/5