Amazon Prime’s Call Me Bae came with all guns blazing, boasting a star-studded ensemble cast, including Ananya Panday in her much-anticipated web series debut. Touted as a comedy-fashion-drama, the promise has been nothing short of entertainment galore. What unfolded, however, was a different story. While ‘Call Me Bae’ tries so hard to bring about the appeal of fashion and the struggles of self-discovery, it basically fails at delivering what one would be expecting from a Prime Original with so much potential, making many question if this show is worth their time.
Plot Summary: A Familiar Story Line
Call Me Bae tells the story of Bae, a high-maintenance fashionista who gets disowned by her family, and her onward journey thereafter. The web series tries to touch on topics like identity, self-discovery, and breaking societal norms. These topics, however, remain superficial and are marred by poor execution.
The story banks on tropes that have been done to death-from a pampered rich girl finding the “real world” to the love story that just had to happen and was predictable at best. Rather than providing the freshness that one is accustomed to, this web series tends to feel like more of the same, stuff seen in films and series for years now.
Performances: A Mixed Bag
Ananya Panday’s Debut Disappointment
Unfortunately, Ananya Panday‘s performance of Bae leaves much to be desired. Yes, she has her charming moments, but mostly, her act seems one-dimensional. As the central character in the series, Bae is supposed to carry the emotional weight of the series, but Panday fails to make her character evoke empathy or depth. This is in scenes that require emotional vulnerability, among others. At times, viewers may find themselves disengaged with her character, making it even tougher to be interested in the story of the series.
Saving Grace-Supporting Cast
But then again, it isn’t all doom and gloom. The supporting cast, in the form of Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, and names like Mini Mathur brings some semblance of life to the show. With better comic timing and fairly realistic performances, they provide some much-needed relief in an otherwise dull narrative. Most of them are, but very specifically, Gurfateh Pirzada stands out with his effortless charm. Even with a weak script, his scenes are a treat to watch.
Script and Dialogues: A Pain Point
One of the major drawbacks of this program is the mediocre script of Call Me Bae. The dialogues are harking and mostly out of place, which makes the interaction of characters artificial. The humor that’s supposed to keep you going falls flat more often than not. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but they’re too few and between to sustain interest.
FashionForward, Substance Backward: How Call Me Bae Fares in Visuals and Cinematography One aspect in which Call Me Bae indeed shines is in its production value. The sets, the costumes, and the overall aesthetic indeed come off chic. The fashion industry backdrop is captured well with high-glamour outfits, designer showcases, and upscale settings giving the show that glossy appeal. The cinematography is polished, and visually, the show does come off appealing.
But even with such a visual feast, the lack of any strong, interesting narrative makes it really struggle for attention. The feel is that the show is more into style than substance, leaving the viewer wanting more in terms of plot.
Direction and Pacing: A Confused Execution
Another hindrance is the direction in which Call Me Bae tends to go. The pace in certain episodes is too slow, dragging out unnecessarily, while in other episodes, it seems pivotal moments fly by in an instant. This serves only to disorient the viewer as to what direction the story is taking. There are some emotional arcs which could have been more elaborated and were just pushed through, while scenes that don’t add much to the story seemed to take more importance.
Themes: Superficial Exploration of Serious Topics
Call Me Bae does have a deeper background of themes such as familial expectations, self-identity, and societal pressures. However, none of these are explored in a meaningful manner in the show. These plot points are more plot devices to move the story than an actual deep dive into these themes. Herein lies the missed opportunity that leaves the show vacuous of deeper meaning and unsatisfactory to the audience.
Audience Reception: Mixed Reactions
Critics’ View
Most of the critical reception has been deploring, with most of them pointing out how the show just failed to live up to expectations. The storyline fell flat even though the fashion-forward approach did strike a chord; hence, the performances were inconsistent, and that was something which was very badly received by the critics. And even Call Me Bae, they point out, could have had a good storyline but was let down by not-so-great execution. So, it didn’t have much depth either.
Reactions from Viewers
Because this is not a bad show; it’s mediocre, and fans of Ananya Panday will like it simply for the fact that this is her move into a more mature role. Fans may be disappointed themselves, though. Reactions on social media leaned toward disappointment in the series as a whole; many claimed it was a missed opportunity for Panday and Amazon Prime.
Comparison with Other Prime Originals: A Missed Opportunity
Amazon Prime has also had its share of successful originals, right from Mirzapur to The Family Man. Compared to them, Call Me Bae is underwhelming. While those series did succeed in keeping the audience hooked with strong protagonists and storylines, Call Me Bae falls miles behind. This series lacks both an engaging plot and character development that has been representative of other Prime Originals.
Verdict: Watch or Skip?
Should You Watch It?
So, if you are in the mood to watch something light-hearted and don’t feel like investing your brain into it, then Call Me Bae will be a decent watch- mainly when it has themes of fashion. But if one is looking forward to something with meaning, character development, and a storyline- well, this isn’t really for them.
Conclusion
Amazon Prime’s Call Me Bae had all the potential in the world to be a refreshing and insightful take on the world of fashion and personal growth but managed to mess it up on so many levels. With all its glamour and a notably talented supporting cast, this show fails to impress with a really poor storyline, mediocre script, and inconsistent performances. For viewers who invest a little more meaning into their entertainment, well, this might just be the reason to pop in a painkiller.