- Date of Release: 06 September 2024
- Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Amazon Prime Video
Call Me Bae (Season 1)
Introduction
As a wise man has once said (who happens to also be on the show), there are two types of India – one that is economically strained and grounded in reality, the typical middle class and the ones below who work so hard to make their ends meet. And the others, who are rich and some that are more rich and like to flaunt their money on weddings at their place. And this show is about that last bit (don’t sue me News Laundry, credit where due)! Once that expectation is set (and you must stop right here if you choose to have a problem with the story NOT being relatable to you, or you choose to boycott the show for reasons best known to you), you can venture into the glitzy and sassy world of Bae aka Bella who lives in Delhi, but not the Delhi that is widely infamous for crimes on the streets, but rather a city that is coated with floss and sugar while representing the top tier of the society. Here is introducing Bae – a hybrid between Sid from Wake Up Sid and Ayesha Banerjee, the new girl in the city once she moves to Mumbai. But the froth aside, the new Hindi show Call Me Bae isn’t entirely vapid as it is showcased to me. It does have a searing commentary on the sorry state of the media that is used as an underlying layer that is buried below the layer of floss and froth that essentially forms the tone of the drama. Given the cancel culture, a byproduct of the media, that has now crept on the social media side of things, many folks are already irked by this drama (that has many things to say only if you choose to stick around and dig deeper), which I honestly find it laughable (and it is fine to dislike it for shortcomings that it flaunts but not what you are about to read further), because the general criticism is that this is NOT the India that ‘we’ know or relate to (and also Ananya Panday can’t act 😐). To those of you, here is your last chance, drop reading any further about my thoughts on the show Call Me Bae.
Story & Screenplay
The premise of the first season of Call Me Bae is simplistic but also quite wobbly. The introduction of the protagonist Bae is slightly haphazard to begin with, wherein I found the staging to be slightly off. As a viewer, you do expect to be acquainted with, and later sucked into the world of the drama while also be introduced to various characters and their traits. But the opening sequence is almost like a montage on how a girl born in an elite (no scratch that, super super elite) is almost like a black sheep of the family, being married off to a rich man who after marriage just doesn’t give her much time, only for the girl to indulge in an extra-marital affair and later get thrown out upon being discovered. There were clearly too many things unfolding without a consistent sense of world building or characterization that had me mildly disconnected with the proceedings. And this is where much of the criticism of the show is justified wherein most folks may have stopped watching it after the first two episodes. But should you choose to stick around for a little bit more, there is reward and a lot of fun to accompany the narrative in the next six episodes standing at 30 odd to 40 odd minutes each.
Just when I thought that there was no saving the show (and I don’t abandon a show because of my job you know), things began to gather momentum with the change in the setting. The city of Mumbai was back to familiar grounds for me unlike the protagonist who was initially caught in a cultural conundrum of sorts, partly with the city and partly with the people. But with the introduction of a bunch of new characters, the fun quotient of the drama began to kickstart a revival wherein the jokes started to land and I found myself enjoying the proceedings. Yes, the tone of the drama was still frothy, thematically speaking. But the difference lay in the situations that Bae found herself in, even as the drama did unfold in a two-fold manner – one as a slice of life and coming of age drama, and the other, a searing commentary on the state of the media in today’s times. Also, the several meta-references were a huge add-on in the screenplay too.
The drama briefly flirts with the character dynamics and mild conflicts between characters but doesn’t really make it the foundation of the show. I liked how the writing was so self aware with the tone being frivolous, and instead wished to push the envelope with respect to the purpose and the intended message of the show. As a result, the conflicts between characters (barring one open strand at the end of the show) are simplistic and the resolution is even simpler, even as the show ventures into a more purposeful territory while keeping the sass quotient of the show intact. The entire branchout subplot of the #MeToo movement coupled with Bae’s renewed focus at her job was a perfect amalgamation in itself while also offering a frivolous arc of maturity for the central protagonist. One of the themes of the show is also friendship and #Behencode (sis-code like bro-code), and it does dwell on a rather warm bond that Bae shares with her friends Saira and Tammarrah, even as the trio stick together to wriggle out of multiple situations.
The drama also scores well when it chooses to be slightly more dramatic and realistic while also acknowledging the seriousness of the issue. Hence, you are also acquainted to the vulnerabilities of Bae even while she is pitted against her soon to be ex-husband and her family, and the more powerful authorities stationed in positions of more, both individually exclusive face-offs with differential tones but thematically similar. The latter in particular leads to an incredible final act that was so close to replicating the newshour debates on TV that I have stopped watching ages ago (and as Faye D’Souza playing herself on the show said, real journalism starts after switching off the TV). The entire finale was expertly staged and it did make for a memorable final act that was fun to witness but also something to ponder upon. A little conflict at the end sets up things quite well for the second episode thereby summing up a screenplay that recovered incredibly well from a wobbly start and made for a pretty ‘flawsome’ watch.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are sassy and totally Gen Z that go perfectly well with the mood of the drama. The music is peppy and the songs are well integrated in the narrative while adding different flavours as per the different moods of the drama. The BGM is incredibly good as well and it does elevate the drama at various junctures. The cinematography comprises of frames that are sharp and in accordance with the tone of the drama. While the frames are frivolous, you can make out that a lot of thought has gone behind them. In a scene, you see a manipulative character walk out of his office only to order another character to call for a cab. To which the reply that he gets is that ‘He works only for TRP’, which incidently was the acronym of the news channel ‘The Real People’.
Likewise, for the costumes that tell a story through each character. Be it Bae donning a cap with ‘Guts’ engrained on it in a scene, or Bae’s brother donning a T-Shirt with the word ‘Fake’, the meta-references of the show were introduced to the viewers in a rather self-aware manner. The editing by Antara Lahiri is crisp and sharp for most parts of the runtime as a result of which, the show never feels like a drag at any given point of time while retaining its froth and sass along the way. Director Collin D’Cunha does a pretty good job in maintaining the tone of the drama in a rather consistent manner. After a wobbly start, the director does find his mojo through his characters and a more familiar setting, while also adding weightage to the drama in terms of its purpose. So while the drama was frivolous and glossy, it still had an underlying commentary that was important and it ended up being a rather fun watch. And the direction was pretty solid here.
Performances
The performances are incredibly good here by the ensemble cast. Karishma Tanna as Naina, Sayani Gupta as Madhulika and Riya Sen as Mitali are excellent in their respective cameos, and they manage to leave a mark. Dia Soni as Tara, Suryasikha Das as Debolina, Akashdeep Arora as Ashish, Amaara Sangam as Natasha, Ashmita Jaggi as Ira and Shiv Masand as Samar, all have their moments to shine. I loved Mini Mathur and the kind of sass that she brought to her character of Gayatri which was incredible to witness. Vihaan Samat as Agastya has a quiet little charm that compensates for aloofness of his character, something that makes him standout. Lisa Mishra as Harleen is nicely understated in a character wherein she was required to internalise and bottle up her emotions while putting up a strong front. Sahil Shroff as Mukul will go down as the most hated character of the show which pretty much is testimony of his incredibly good performance.
Varun Sood as Prince is sincere and earnest, and the impact of his character grows on you, owing to the adorable virtue of his character. He is excellent to witness here besides having a giant personality onscreen, both literally and figuratively speaking. Niharika Lyra Dutt as Tammarrah has an easy going energy with respect to her character that makes her such a natural onscreen. She is consistent with the tone of her character and she does contribute to the fun quotient of the drama. Muskkaan Jaferi as Saira is outstanding as well, adding a different flavour to the group with her unique characteristics of being playful while holding the group together (see how she did not react even when cornered by her friends in a couple of scenes).
Gurfateh Pirzada as Neel is more subdued but in a good way and allows room for the drama to remain grounded by cutting through the frivolous quotient, in his subtly measured act. And there is a sense of sincerity lacing his character that allows you to invest in his journey. Vir Das as Satyajit Sen was incredible casting decision particularly because he essays a character that he is a polar opposite of in real life. But given that we are aware of Vir’s real life personality, it does ensure that the character that he essays isn’t as hated while Vir maintains a steady balance even with the idiosyncrasy surrounding his character. As a result, the character also does not appear to be a caricature while you are successful in laughing at his actions (and invariably on that person on whom his character is based on). I guess Vir will be having the last laugh after all (wink wink).
This brings me to Ananya Panday who is criticized for her acting chops. But I do have an unpopular opinion here – SHE CAN ACT! There are two sides to Ananya as an actor – while she has indeed been found wanting in terrible projects like Liger, she has scored wonderfully well in projects like Kho Gaye Hum Kahan. This basically means that if Ananya is in her comfort zone having been familiar with the setting, she actually manages to score well. Which is something we see here as well – she really breathes life into her character of Bae aka Bella. She retains the sassy energy and playfulness in her character while also scoring in dramatic scenes like her stellar act in the season finale here. If people actually view her performance objectively, then they would realise that she is also improving her game (and she should stick to this genre for some time too). She is brilliant here through and through.
Conclusion
Despite a wobbly start, The first season of Call Me Bae is a ‘Flawsome’ drama filled with frivolous fun and sass that makes for a pretty ‘BAE-misaal’ watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the show that also chooses to be purposeful with its meta-commentary on the media along the way. Available on Amazon Prime!
Latest Posts
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
