'Flop, cringe fest': Ananya Panday's acting is exaggerated, Vir Das lauded for his role in Call Me Bae [Review]

The wait is over as Ananya Panday starrer 'Call Me Bae', directed by Collin D'Cunha and produced by Karan Johar was dropped on September 6, 2024. The comedy-drama shows Ananya's character Bella's ultra-luxurious, lavish life going downhill.

About the show

Call Me Bae tells a tale of riches to rags, wherein Ananya Panday essays the role of a super-privileged South Delhi girl who is born with a silver spoon. She has luscious cars and shops till she drops, and she hasn't seen a minute of what poverty looks like. She then marries a multi-billionaire Agastya ( Vihaan Samrat) and soon she cheats on gym trainer Varun Sood who gives her sexual pleasure. She is thrown out of the house and then eventually goes to Mumbai.

She joins a news channel wherein she meets her boss Neil. The web show sheds light on a lot of current sensational topics mainly the Me Too movement, Bollywood drug tale and much more.

Vir Das essays the role of news anchor and he takes a sly dig at sensational journalism.

In a nutshell, Bella who is a heiress hustles and makes her way.

Ananya is at times over the top, but it suits her best. No one could play the role better than her. There are certain emotional scenes wherein she aces it well. Vir Das steals the show. Vihaan Samrat, Gurfateh Pirzada have a meaty role to play.

The cast of Call Me Bae includes Ananya Panday, Vir Das, Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, Vihaan Samat, Muskkaan Jaferi, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Lisa Mishra, and Mini Mathur.

Netizens had a mixed take on the Call Me Bae series. Some loved it, while some didn't.

One person said, "Call me bae is a fab show and this is not coming from the fact that I love Ananya. It's really good something fun also everyone did good work."

Another user wrote, "#CallMeBaeOnPrime is actually kind of good! it's giving me the fluffy entertainment that I need."

A netizen stated, "Ananya is so good in #CallMeBae!!! Yes she is playing her OTT self.... But the emotional part is superb. Love the carefree entertainment."

One post mentioned, "4/5 in fact maybe even more OMG YOU ARE AN ICON ANANYA. they didnt even market the show properly because it gets SERIOUS in the second half!!! I loved it - and its very emily in paris coded but the main arc is NOT her relationships with the men so +1 for that!!"

A tweet lauded Vir Das, saying, "Whatever you have done in #CallMeBae is just hilarious."

The next one said, "Vapid, humourless and an absurd fantasy, you can tell #CallMeBae is written by people whose engagement with journalism starts with Instagram and ends with TV news."

A user wrote, "Ananya's acting is 'Exaggerated,' But she recreated Sidharth Malhotra And Kiara Advani's Wedding.

Another person wished for the story to continue. The tweet said, "Please tell me there are next episodes as well for call me bae?? #CallMeBae I mean I would want to know who she ends up with Super fun show. #AnanyaPanday."

One user stated, "Guys, call me bae is really cute and the fashion is fashion-ing!!!!"

The next one mentioned, "Whoever thought of casting Vir Das as an unhinged sellout nut job cartoon of a TV news anchor in Call Me Bae will forever have my respect."