'Call Me Bae' web-series review: Ananya Panday is having fun in this show where comical absurdity takes over the emotions

Cast: Ananya Panday, Mini Mathur, Varun Sood, Gurfateh Pirzada, Vir Das

Director: Collin D’Cunha

Language: Hindi

The slang term “Birkin” is a word that is used to reference a Birkin bag. A Birkin is short for a Birkin bag which is an expensive handbag made by Hermès. Birkin means an expensive handbag produced by Hermès. Why am I writing this? Because somewhere right in the first episode of Call Me Bae that stars Ananya Panday who’s named Bella, her mother played by Mini Mathur, tells her with a smiling face that in the world of fakes, be a Birkin. I quickly googled it and this is what I found. The series begins with a tragedy where Panday is thrown out of her husband’s house and we then move to a flashback.

And since this is the world of Dharma, the family is not supposed to be rich, they are supposed to be extraordinarily wealthy. But now they could be filing for bankruptcy and that’s when Bae’s mother asks her to hook up with a hunk to bail them out. Somewhere here is Vikas Bahl’s Shaandaar which was also produced by Karan Johar. In this show, director Collin D’Cunha attempts to make her protagonist embrace and enjoy her privilege and take digs at it together. It’s like Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kajol from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham infused into one actress at the same time. The result is hit and miss.

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Once you get the hang of what this is all about, you’ll understand the farce is intentional and so is the ham on display. There are subtle touches (or digs?) at endless pre-wedding celebrations, Lake Como, Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif, and that viral Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra wedding. Panday also drops some truth bombs about social media, ‘If it’s not here, it didn’t happen na!’ The intent is right and the shots are distractingly colourful, the palette is gargantuan and the idea is to guffaw at the idiocy, but it’s also acquired taste.

Call Me Bae chooses to walk the path of froth, but the emotions skim the surface too. It’s okay if the laughs are borderline silly, the tears should be just the opposite. When the beloved bae is thrown out of her sprawling mansion, a hotel suite, she declares she’ll make it on her own. But the glitter and flashiness continues to hound and haunt the series even when the protagonist is at its ebb. Just like Ranbir Kapoor in Wake Up Sid, there’s no trace of struggle for Panday. Things happen organically and the show proceeds with comical absurdity. Even the auto she sits in has carefully crafted pink seats and looks more like a claustrophobic set designed purely to add more style to the already overwhelming world of extravagance.

Not all is fun and games though. We have Vir Das play 7867th caricature of Arnab Goswami but unlike most of the other films or series, we peep into the man behind the scenes. He’s as callous and visceral to his own as he’s to his guests. There’s a hollow debate on facts and reality, news and sensationalism. Aziz Mirza did a far better job 24 years ago with Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. That satirical drama was far from perfect, but nobody will take you seriously if your debate is preceded by a cameo by Orry thrown in solely for effect. That’s the thing with these supposed new age dramas that harp on milking the social media sensation for narrating stories. One video quickly goes viral and we have a star in the making. Unlike the timely Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, which also starred Ananya Panday, Call Me Bae is content with being funny. It fails to extract the harsh truth of how social media can be both powerful and puerile.

However, Panday jumps enthusiastically into the parodical realm with all gusto. She sportingly submits herself to the fluff and farce with a beaming smile. She could be essaying an exaggerated version of herself; the lines between truth and fiction are blurred even before we can see her, meet her, and know her. Spoof is a genre Bollywood has barely got right. The atrocity that the 2019 Arjun Patiala was comes instantly to mind. Call Me Bae is an attempt that’s better.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Call Me Bae is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video IN