Call Me Bae is more than just another dumb trash you expect it to be, but it is not great to make you question your assumption of it being trash. Call Me Bae is a pathetic mess that could’ve been a Great show. I always hate these would’ve/ could’ve been films or shows. You know the films and shows with the potential or great idea getting the worst possible execution and you just watch it go down the drain.
Call Me Bae is one such show that had the potential because Media and politics are very sensitive topics and most talked about, but nobody actually took to depict them properly, from being goofy and invading privacy to spreading propaganda Indian media has aced everything and I always wanted a show like The Newsroom set in Indian atmosphere or at least a show even if it in light sitcom-esque mood that shows the society a mirror or retrospective of how media works.
Let’s take a step backward, so, Call Me Bae focuses on a woman named Bella born with a golden spoon who suddenly gets canceled and evicted from her in-laws and parents, how she survived on her own, how she landed in a Media company and how she survived there.
Ananya Pandey as Bae was good, probably her career-best (in the last episodes at least). In the last episode, she has to emote in close up which is tough for old Ananya to crack but this new Ananya aced it and the rest of the episode dominated, so a huge win from Ananya Pandey considering her past.
Vir Das was a surprise since day 1 because after having a fair share of bad filmography and focusing more on stand-up Vir left acting, but choosing a role in a show like this at his peak of stand-up is what hooked me for this show in the first place. But after watching the show I understood Vir picked the mid-show but great role route, every actor gets these kinds of choices Great film mid-role or a Mid-film great role. Vir was excellent as Satyajit without a doubt, but the same flaw he wasn’t explored much. Nobody in the ensemble stood out.
How the Show Could Have Been Approached to Reach Its Full Potential
Introduce Bella in a less cringier way and remove the whole satire. Deal with the whole Agastya and cheating part more seriously instead of gimmicky. Set up Bae before the eviction of throwing her on the road happens so people can know her in and out so the audience gets Bae and forget Ananya because it took me till the last episode to finally get Bae, up to 7 episodes I was still seeing Ananya.
From there people could follow her Rachel journey and actually care for her and reduce all that settling down bullshit so I could set up the media plot because in the show by the time the media plot arrived, I was exhausted by it and hated it and by the end it was the main plot so should handle the main plot properly.
Let Bae meet her friends and the gang is still fine can bond them by writing the media plot simultaneously and dropping hints of anonymous characters at the beginning and slowly unfolding each character instead of showing everything on face on our face in the last 2 episodes. Even after doing all this with proper writing, we would still have a decent watchable show, for it to be extremely good the main focus should be shifted from Metoo to political propaganda if that is impossible to crack then Metoo with proper writing and backing.
To conclude Call Me Bae is just another mediocre could’ve been great disposable content (if it was written well) that you’ll end up not watching.
Nazeef is a cinephile in the truest sense of the word. While his devotion to Martin Scorsese is unparalleled, his love for cinema knows no boundaries. He explores films from every corner of the world with a deep curiosity and a critical eye. Every movie he watches opens up new perspectives, and his reviews always bring fresh insights, making him an essential voice in the global film community.