Ananya Pandey’s ‘Call Me Be’ is streaming on Prime VideoImage Credit Source: Social Media
After watching the trailer of Ananya Pandey’s web series, it seemed that the series would have been shot in ‘Emily in Paris’ style. What happens when a rich girl from South Delhi comes to Mumbai and struggles? The story somewhat matches the plot of Emily, an American, who struggles after moving to a city like France. I watched 4 episodes of this series during Ananya Pandey’s interview and after watching those episodes what will happen next? She was also very curious to know this. When the series streamed, I watched the remaining 4 episodes and the series did not disappoint me till the end. Ananya Pandey’s ‘Call Me Be’ is much better, logical and entertaining than ‘Emily in Paris’.
story
Bella means ‘two’. Future Bay’s mother (Mini Mathur) decides for her daughter to shift from her mother’s lap to her husband’s arms and then lead a comfortable life on her husband’s money. But the whole plan goes awry when Bey cheats on her husband Agastya (Vihan Samat), who doesn’t give her time. Agastya catches her romance with Prince (Varun Sood) red-handed and then what, Delhi’s ‘Bai’ becomes Mumbai’s ‘Bai’, now it’s Bela’s turn to go from ‘Bai’ to ‘sister-code’ trend setter, you must watch ‘Bai’ on Amazon Prime Video. Call Me Bay’ is a must watch.
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Know how this series is
‘Call Me Bey’ is not an ordinary series that will appeal to all viewers. Along with comedy, the series also conveys some strong messages. But at the same time, the way this series looks at relationships is a bit more casual. However what is shown in it is not wrong. But no matter how much foreign content I watch, I still don’t get familiar with relationships that change in an instant like quick matchmaking, quick divorce, then affair and then fling. If you think like me, these things shown in this series may bother you. But if you want to watch something new, you can watch this web series by Ananya Pandey. You will not be disappointed.
Directing and writing
Ishita Moitra is the producer of this series and has also worked on the story of this series. Colin de Cunha is its director. This is his first independent project as a director. Colin does full justice to Ishita’s vision. There is a kind of freshness in his direction. Together, Ishita and Colin have presented us with a world that, even though this world is not ours, we definitely enjoy peeking into the lives of the people involved in it. The style of this series is a bit like Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ or ‘Dil Dhadkane Do’, in which the helplessness of the rich is shown.
Colin’s ‘Call Me Bae’ is catchy, each episode ends on such a high that you want to watch the next episode immediately. ‘Kissing Booth’, ‘Emily in Paris’, ‘For You’, ‘Only You’ are some of the popular series on the OTT platform, which appeal to the youth and are watched all over the world. Some are made in English and some in Spanish. This is a genre series that will appeal to the 18 to 30 year old audience, this audience will enjoy this series a lot. Colin has created a series with Ananya that can attract a global audience to this content.
Acting
Ananya Pandey surprises me in this series. He has played this character with such ease as if it was made for him. She has very well depicted her journey from being the wife of a rich husband to being the wife of a social media influencer with a talking branded bag. To his credit Ananya Pandey have to give In this series, Ananya got a character that matched her personality and she took full advantage of this opportunity to try to prove to her trollers that she is not a ‘bimbo’ but a ‘brilliant’.
Varun Sood and Vihaan are good, but neither have much screen space. Good work by Gurfateh Pirzada. Veer Das has become an OTT (over the top) journalist. He is also right, but it seems that in the guise of his character he has directed his anger towards the mainstream media. However, unlike other series, this series does not show the media from only one angle, otherwise the subject of media has become a favorite punching bag of the entertainment industry these days. All the other actors have also done justice to their roles. Niharika Dutt, Leesa Mishra and Muskan Jafri also do a good job.
To see or not to see
One of the things that bothers me most about ‘Call Me Bay’ is the glorification of social media journalism. Yes, social media journalism may be moving fast, but this social media journalism has brought much of the media into disrepute. The responsibility with which news was presented to the world has been destroyed by social media journalism and what makes this media big is the audience, who also want entertainment in the news. Today, because of this social media journalism, everyone is under pressure to go viral and so if you are glorifying social media journalism by calling the mainstream media wrong, understand that this trend was set not by us but by them.
As I said, the casual way of showing relationships, having an affair while the husband is still alive, having a party at home and having physical relations with the boyfriend at the party, then dating someone else in the middle of the divorce news, happens. I myself have also read the news of marriage breaking up in 40 days. But still, the 90s kid in me (I know we’re not kids anymore) can’t understand these relationships, so no matter how many Teen and Younger series I watch, this thing irritates me.
The good thing is that this is the story of a girl who accepts her mistake and still moves forward, a resolution that is important for everyone. No relationship can stop a person from moving forward. Rather than hiding your mistakes, it is better to admit them and move on. Otherwise, if you want to relax, watch some content on the weekend that will make you laugh. Some issues are also highlighted in this series. So an entertaining web series as well as an attempt to hold a mirror up to society, what else do you need for a weekend.
Web Series: Call Me Bay
Starring: Ananya Pandey, Veer Das, Varun Sood, Gurfateh Peerzada
Director: Colin D’Cunha
Platform: Prime Video
Rating: 3 stars
