Call Me Bae Review: Frothy, Superficial but a Quite Engaging Riches-To-Rags Tale

'Call Me Bae' stars Ananya Panday as Bae who loses practically everything she holds dear in a flash.

Ananya Panday in Call Me Bae.

(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

Ever since she was a kid, Bae has had her life planned out to the last detail by her mother (Mini Mathur) including the man she has to marry. In a Bridgerton-esque sequence set in South Delhi, she and her to-be-husband Agastya (Vihaan Samat) ‘debut’ together. With little hints into her dreams constantly being sidelined so she can become the ‘perfect wife and mother’, the image of her actual marriage is more lonely than it is posh. But even then, Bae’s life is spades better than many of ours will ever be.

The marriage soon falls apart and she is ousted from her house and her circles – even her own family would rather she just ‘go away’ so they can keep their reputation sparkly clean. In her Caroline Channing (‘2 Broke Girls’) era, Bae is forced to move to Mumbai and deal with the city’s ‘hustle’ so she can make a living.

In the new city she most conveniently meets her ‘behen-code’ gang – a trainee at a hotel Saira (a hilarious Muskkan Jaferi) and a rookie journalist Tammarrah (Niharika Dutt). Still operating on a level of luck that we will never have, she also lands a job in a newsroom. If not for a near-perfect casting, the only-frills approach to storytelling wouldn’t have worked as well as it does. And that’s the thing about Call Me Bae – despite the froth and sheen, the show is fun and engaging for the most part.

Ananya Panday and Bae seem to borrow from each other – if the actor is completely surrendering herself to Bae’s quirks, Bae borrows from Panday’s image and persona. She is endearing instead of frustrating also because of the way the character is written. Vihaan Samat as the rich South Delhi guy who has perhaps never had to introspect about much is memorable in a crowded show. And then there’s Gurfateh Pirzada, an investigative TV journalist Neel, who is disturbed by his channel’s increasing dependence on TRPs which is coming at the cost of real stories.

Pirzada is a delight to watch on screen, especially since the ‘Neel and Bae’ duo is so fun to watch. It’s a tried-and-tested trope – the social media savvy, bubbly character and the brooding, technologically-challenged one. Granted though that the constant social media buzz words like hashtag become more annoying with every show. The show also takes quite a few liberties with the way the newsroom is portrayed – why does an anonymous source reach out to an intern for her story? Is Bae the only person who has gone viral for speaking her mind in this universe?

The thing that saves the newsroom sequences is Bae and Satyajit (Vir Das) constantly sparring with each other. Satyajit, quite the hilarious caricature of TV journalists, is every bit as enraging as he should be and Bae constantly rolling her eyes at him doesn’t get tired. While most of the characters in Call Me Bae are considerably surface-level, it is refreshing that the women get to rise above one-dimensional archetypes. Even as the show revolves around Bae (and Ananya Panday in a way), the women around her get enough of a role to chew on.

Saira isn’t just the ‘bestie’ who comes in clutch, she is a woman who has had to come up tips and tricks to survive in a city like Mumbai because she doesn’t have the same social capital that Bae does – even without any money. And Jaferi’s performance is definitely one of the show’s highlights. Even Dutt and Lisa Mishra (as a show producer in the TV newsroom) hold their own. This, however, also lends itself to one of the story’s issues – when you give us these characters, the show can’t be so devoid of their struggles.

Towards the end of the show, however, there is a tonal shift. And that isn’t always a bad thing – one would expect that a show like this, which places differences in journalistic ethics at the centre, would wade into deeper waters. In trying to make these tones work each other, the show seems to play it too safe for comfort.

This is a shift that would need a better pacing and understanding. From the very beginning, Call Me Bae feels rushed in parts and the heavy exposition is difficult to ignore. There is a show that casts a very obvious shadow on Call Me Bae – Schitt’s Creek. Bae seems to have traits from Moira, David, and most importantly Alexis. Like Moira’s love for her wigs, Bae loves her designer bags.

But Call Me Bae doesn’t have either the time or the depth that show did. Moira’s relationship with her belongings was much deeper than losing all her wealth and while there are hints of Bae’s relationship with her bags rising from her loneliness, the connection leaves the show quick. Alexis Rose’s transformation was one of the best arcs on the Schitt’s Creek and too high a standard to match but it’s really difficult to separate the two shows.

The best thing about Call Me Bae, however, is its self-awareness which mixes perfectly with its often silly tone. The ‘worst’ thing is that when it does try to do more, it doesn’t have the foundation it needs to fall back on. Most of the riches-to-rags gags are hilarious and the others feel a little tired and over-the-top.

The show seems to be in a chess match with itself and for the most part, Bae seems to be the one winning.