Ananya Panday couldn’t put down the script for “Call Me Bae” – literally. “I read all eight episodes in one night because I couldn’t stop,” said the Bollywood star Variety about her new Prime Video series.
Written by Ishita Moitra, Samina Motlekar and Rohit Nair, Call Me Bae tells the story of Bae, a young woman who is reduced from heiress to con artist after a scandal. She discovers that her most valuable asset is not her diamonds, but her street smarts and her style. Broke but refusing to be broken, she navigates the newsrooms of Mumbai where she finds beaus, sisterhood and her better self. Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta and Somen Mishra, as executive producers for their Dharmatic Entertainment, lend a glitzy pedigree to the Hindi-language series.
The script, directed by Collin D’Cunha, struck a chord with Panday from the start. “For me as an actor, the biggest sign is my first reaction and my first instinct after I read something – when I just feel like I need to be part of the story,” she explained. The actor praised the balance of the script, noting, “There’s a certain tone, in terms of the lightness and the humor, and the chick flick quality that it has, but it also really says something at the end of it.”
The supporting cast includes Vir Das, Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, Vihaan Samat, Muskkaan Jaferi, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Lisa Mishra and Mini Mathur, while Panday plays the lead role, Bella ‘Bae’ Chowdhary. The series format allowed Panday to delve deep into her character. “It’s a huge responsibility, but it’s also a privilege for an actor to do that,” she said of directing the show.
Preparation for the role included extensive table reads with the ensemble cast, which Panday described as crucial given the different character dynamics at play. She also worked closely with director D’Cunha to develop a strong backstory for Bella. “Colin and I [were] just sitting there and trying to understand why she is the way she is,” Panday said. “She talks to her bags, and that may seem ridiculous on first viewing, but then when you understand that, because she’s lonely and she hasn’t had anyone to care for her growing up, then you kind of understand why she is the way she is. ”
Panday, daughter of actor Chunky Panday and costume designer Bhavna Pandey, has grown up in the spotlight. However, she notes that her character Bella’s privileged background differs from her own experiences. “Although Bella is privileged, she is a different kind of privilege. She comes from a very wealthy family in Delhi, and despite her privileges, she has many regressive and patriarchal traits,” Panday said. “I haven’t experienced that in our family, because my house has been extremely liberal in that sense, the way my father raised my sister and I.”
While “Call Me Bae” appears to draw inspiration from popular chick flicks, D’Cunha encouraged Panday not to imitate existing performances. “Instead of telling me to look at something, he told me to stay away from it more so that I don’t try to copy or imitate anything,” Panday revealed.
Panday made her Bollywood debut in 2019 with Karan Johar’s ‘Student of the Year 2’, alongside Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria. She followed this with roles in “Pati Patni Aur Woh” (2019) and “Khaali Peeli” (2020). Her performance in “Gehraiyaan” (2022), directed by Shakun Batra, received critical acclaim and showcased her ability to take on more complex, dramatic roles.
As a youth icon with millions of followers, Panday is aware of her influence. “You know how Uncle Ben said in ‘Spider-Man’, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ I feel that way a lot when you just see that song on Instagram,” she reflected. This awareness of the impact of social media was also central to her 2023 Netflix film ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’, which explores the effects of digital life on young adults. “I try not to take it too seriously, but I also understand my responsibility at the end of the day.”
Panday hopes viewers will discover the layers beneath Bella’s surface. “People have already kind of formed assumptions about her based on the trailer and the posters and whatever they’ve seen. But I have a feeling once they watch the show, they’ll discover there’s so much more to her.
“Call Me Bae” ends on a cliffhanger, leaving the door open for possible future seasons. “We’re not done with the show and these characters yet, and we’re almost waiting to come back,” Panday said. “If the audience likes it enough, which hopefully they do, then we’d love to come back.”
In addition to ‘Call Me Bae’, Panday stars in ‘CTRL’, a cyber thriller directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, premiering on Netflix on October 4.
“Call Me Bae” will stream on Prime Video starting September 6.