Review: “Call Me Bae” starring Ananya Panday fails to deliver, coming off as clichéd and unoriginal
Name: Call Me Bae
Director: Collin D’Cunha
Cast: Ananya Panday, Vihan Samat, Varun Sood, Vir Das, Muskkaan Jaferi, Gurfateh Pirzada
Writer: Ishita Moitra, Samina Motlekar
Rating: 2/5
Plot:
Bella (Ananya Panday) lives in a very rich family. One fine day, she learns from her mother that they may go bankrupt in a year’s time. Due to the insistence of her mother, she woos Agastya (Vihaan Samat) who is a rich business tycoon. They marry and Bella is able to save her family from bankruptcy. Due to Agastya’s lack of involvement in the relationship, Bella pursues a fling-like relationship with her gym trainer Prince (Varun Sood) and gets caught. She has to part ways with Agastya and she also loses access to all the money that was at her disposal after marriage. The story that follows, shows how Bella turns into an independent woman with a voice of her own, who can very well look after herself.
What Works for Call Me Bae:
Call Me Bae is loud in its intent of showing that there is an unequal distribution of wealth and power, and that there are people who are more privileged than the rest. The journey of the protagonist from someone who is very dependent to someone who is totally independent is predictable but also pleasing as, who doesn’t like to see a character grow and blossom!?
What Doesn’t Work for Call Me Bae:
Call Me Bae is banal and uninventive. The show doesn’t come through and just feels like a run-of-the-mill attempt at the end of the watch. The show plays to the gallery and there is no effort made to stand out or impress. It feels as though the makers have no intentions of creating something genuinely deep and moving. It’s more like peace is made with the ordinariness of the content that is to be served to the audience, expecting that it will be consumed.
Call Me Bae as a show could be sassier, definitely more sizzling, and certainly more inviting. It could be rawer, deeper and very personal too. Instead, it is over-polished and over-simplified and what we finally get is a generic and basic series that doesn’t give viewers a reason enough to binge it.
Watch Call Me Bae’s Official Trailer
Performances In Call Me Bae:
Ananya Panday as Bella does best with what she is offered. There’s not something more that a performer can do when the writing is so bland. Varun Sood as the gym trainer doesn’t get much scope. Vihaan Samat as Agastya is under-utilised. Muskkaan Jaferi is good. Vir Das is alright as the cunning news anchor. Shiv Masand, Gurfateh Pirzada, Lisa Mishra, Akashdeep Arora and others don’t leave a lasting impression, again because of the writing.
Final Verdict Of Call Me Bae:
Call Me Bae lacks the spark of a cracking show. It is too lousy, lackluster and uninventive to create an impact. It is a rare show that doesn’t feel like it is trying. The makers prefer to play to the gallery instead of challenging themselves. At an age when grabbing the attention of an average viewer is a task, there is no room for complacency.
Call Me Bae is now streaming on Prime Video. Let us know what you feel about the show.
ALSO READ: Call Me Bae Screening: Ananya Panday’s besties Suhana Khan, Shanaya Kapoor raise glam quotient; Kartik Aaryan, Sara Ali Khan, Vedang Raina and Khushi Kapoor join