Series Review: Call Me Bae
Starring: Ananya Panday, Gurfateh Pirzada, Vihaan Samat, Varun Sood, Vir Das, Lisa Mishra, Muskkaan Jaferi, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Mini Mathur, Sahil Shroff
Director: Collin D'Cunha; Creator: Ishita Moitra
This Indian avatar of the trials and tribulations of crazy rich young wannabes has a flavour of several hit worldwide series streaming across our screens right now.
Bella Rajwansh, who prefers to be called Bae, (Panday) is born with a golden spoon – in her own words. While her uber rich lifestyle in the posh suburbs of Delhi has been bereft of much quality family time, her Instagram “Gram Fam” has more than made up for this shortfall. Lured away from her love of horse-riding, Bae has been very purposefully groomed by her mother Gayatri Rajwansh (Mathur) to comfortably slip into the role of perfect trophy wife for Agastya Chowdhry (Samat) – heir to a mega fortune that is much-needed to restore some of the waning wealth and glory of the Rajwansh empire.
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While Bae dutifully follows her mother’s orders, her workaholic husband’s neglect and the appeal of her hunky gym trainer Prince (Sood) prove impossible to resist. After the bored and belittled Bae is caught in the act with Prince, she finds herself out in the cold with her designer bags in toe. She quickly comes to terms with the shock of being rejected not only by her husband but her entire family, keen to dissociate from her scandalous ways. As Bae makes her way across uncharted territory in Mumbai, a chance encounter with a hotel waitress and an accidental viral video post open some doors for her into the world of journalism. Will rich-kid Bae make it as a career woman, or will she find the cut-throat world of television journalism too much to navigate?
Under a veneer of superficiality, this intelligent script packs an incredible punch with its light-hearted commentary on some of the most pressing issues plaguing Indian society today. While comparisons with ‘Emily In Paris’ and other similar girls-about-town series are inevitable, it would be unfair to compare this very entertaining Indian take with all the others out there.
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Panday’s confident and perceptive performance makes her the perfect fit for Bae, an endearing character who may be nowhere close to reality but manages to touch many chords any way. The so-called “behen code” (sister code) message resonates strongly in the context of today’s #MeToo landscape, even as this Amazon Prime Video binge-worthy series manages to keep things light and breezy throughout.
Given the cliff-hanger ending, Season 2 will most certainly be keenly awaited!