‘There Is No Struggle, I’m Doing Fine’

‘I’m
just
trying
to
keep
my
head
down
and
hope
people
like
my
work.’

Ananya
Panday
feels
her
OTT
debut
series
em>Call
Me
Bae,
is
inspired
by
the
many
women-led
comedy
films,
including
Alicia
Silverstone’s

Clueless
and
Sonam
Kapoor’s

Aisha,
which
she
grew
up
watching.

“It’s
an
amalgamation
of
all
these
chick
flick
kind
of
movies
that
I
loved
growing
up.
And
then
there
was
obviously
Poo,
who
was
iconic.
I
literally
dressed
up
as
Poo
two
years
ago…
I
have
all
her
quotes
on
my
mirror
and
everything,
so
she’s
really
left
an
imprint
on
me,”
Ananya
says,
referring
to
Kareena
Kapoor’s
character
of
Pooja
Sharma,
popularly
called
Poo,
from
2001’s

Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham.

“If
Rohan
and
Pooja
(Hrithik
Roshan
and
Kareena
Kapoor’s
characters
from
K3G)
would
have
had
to
have
had
a
baby
girl,
she
would
be
Bae.
I’m
just
talking
because
she
really
is
a
glorious
Gen
Z
2.0
derivative
of
Poo.
It’s
like
where
Poo
ends,
Bae
takes
off,”
says
Karan
Johar,
who
serves
as
an
executive
producer
on
the
show.

“That’s
the
best
way
that
I
can
describe
her
because
even
when
you
saw
the
character
of
Poo,
it
started
with
all
the
fun
and
games
and
then,
she
contributes
to
the
emotional
gravitas
of
the
ongoings
in

Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham,”
he
adds.

“It’s
like
a
mix
of

Schitt’s
Creek,
Clueless,
Aisha,
Nancy
Drew…”
Ananya
continues.

“I
don’t
think
we’re
really
getting
to
watch
(such
films
and
series)
right
now.
It’s
the
kind
of
show
I
love
to
watch.
It’s
very
light,
young
adult,
happy
and
fun.
Even
though
Bae
has
a
bit
of
all
these
characters
(in
her),
she
is
fully
her
own
person,”
she
adds.

Directed
by
Collin
D’Cunha
and
created
by
Ishita
Moitra,

Call
Me
Bae
sees
Bella
Chowdhary
aka
Bae
leading
a
privileged
life
in
New
Delhi
before
she
is
disowned
by
her
family.

She
then
moves
to
Mumbai,
where
she
becomes
a
journalist
to
sustain
herself.
In
the
process,
she
forms
unexpected
friendships,
alliances
and
faces
many
challenges.

Ananya,
also
known
for
starring
in
movies
like

Student
of
the
Year
2,

Gehraiyaan
and

Dream
Girl
2,
said
Bae
was
the
most
fun
yet
challenging
role
of
her
career.

“It’s
the
first
time
that
I’m
doing
a
long
format
series,
and
the
advantage
of
that
is
that
you
get
to
go
into
every
character.
With
films,
you
only
have
a
couple
of
scenes.
You
can’t
really
build
up
a
backstory
that
much.
But
with
a
long
format,
you
get
to
do
that,”
she
said,
praising
Karan
Johar
and
D’Cunha
as
well
as
the
show’s
team
for
helping
her
out
during
the
shooting.

“Everything
that
I’ve
done
in
the
show
is
thanks
to
them.
The
crew,
the
dialogues,
the
way
it
(show)
is
written.
It
was
just
so
much
fun,”
she
adds.

The
show’s
trailer
closes
with
a
conversation
between
Bae
and
a
security
guard
which
is
a
hat-tip
to
Ananya’s
viral
interview
moment
with
her

Gehraiyaan
co-star
Siddhant
Chaturvedi
during
a
roundtable
interview
a
few
years
ago
where
he
talked
about
the
struggles
of
an
outsider.

During
that
interview,
Ananya
—
actor
Chunky
Pandey’s
daughter
—
had
equated
success
in
the
industry
to

Koffee
With
Karan
appearances
and
Chaturvedi
had
responded
with
a


comment
that
instantly
went
viral.

Asked
about
referencing
the
moment
in

Call
Me
Bae,
Ananya
said
they
have
‘kind
of
owned
up
to
it’.

“I
said
it
like
five
years
ago.
I
really
struggled
answering
this
question
and
honestly,
I
am
done
with
that.
I’m
just
trying
to
keep
my
head
down
and
hope
people
like
my
work.
And
there
is
no
struggle,
I’m
doing
fine,”
she
says.

Karan
Johar,
who
launched
Ananya
in
his
2017
production

Student
of
the
Year
2,
said
it
is
the
actor’s
best
work
so
far.

“I
would
go
as
far
as
saying
that
you
have
seen
her
in
a
lot
of
work
and
she
has
been
growing
from
strength
to
strength.
But
this
is
by
far
her
best
work
and
will
define
her
in
the
world
of
entertainment,”
Karan
says.

Call
Me
Bae
also
features
Vir
Das,
Gurfateh
Pirzada,
Varun
Sood,
Vihaan
Samat,
Muskkaan
Jaferi,
Niharika
Lyra
Dutt,
Lisa
Mishra
and
Mini
Mathur
and
will
begin
streaming
on
Amazon
Prime
Video
from
September
6.