The Ananya Panday-starrer Call Me Bae was released on September 6 and has been praised for its light-hearted theme, performances and message. It stars many fresh faces, all of whom have benefited through this web series. One of them is Lisa Mishra, who plays Harleen. Also a singer, Lisa managed to leave a huge mark despite limited screen time. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, she spoke about the show and a lot more. Incidentally, a few minutes before we had this chat, season 2 of Call Me Bae was announced and Lisa was visibly excited.
EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Mishra talks about Call Me Bae and experience of working with both Ananya Panday and Chunky Panday: “Ananya joked, ‘You’re coming from my job’; Chunky has TOTAL dad energy; I was sending them each other’s pictures; he’d be like, ‘Oh my God…’”
How has your life changed ever since Call Me Bae dropped on Amazon Prime Video?
It’s been so amazing to see the reactions of the people to the show. I don’t think anyone expected it to become a sort of movement. It’s a show about young women and their lives; we haven’t seen something like this in a very long time. The content is also happy and positive. Hence, I think the response is overwhelming. The feedback I get is that most people are happy to watch a show that makes them happy!
My life especially has changed because I didn’t anticipate the sort of feedback I got from the audience and how much they liked to see me on screen as an actor. I guess, maybe I am doing the right thing (smiles).
It is indeed refreshing to see a rare show of this kind…
My personal opinion is that it’s so incredible that we have a show where women are thriving, are each other’s friends and the bad guy loses. So often, we see content that is unfortunately about women getting kidnapped, killed and fighting injustice in a way that doesn’t resolve. But this show offers hope and joy.
Who from the industry has reached out to you?
From Dharma, I have gotten great feedback from Karan Johar himself. He said that I have done a good job. For me, it was a dream come true to hear that from one of the greatest directors of our country. It is one of the most bizarre and meaningful things I ever expected! Bhumi Pednekar also reached out and she was so, so happy for me. Her words meant a lot to me because not only do I admire her as an actor, but she’s also a good friend. There were some more people, but I am not able to keep track. Every day, I am reading new messages.
I see that you have an American accent. But when we see the show, you have convincingly worked on this aspect and you completely sound like a Mumbaikar…
Thank you for noticing. I am so happy; you made my day (laughs)! I didn’t get selected from the auditions I did before because of my accent. Also, with an accent, you usually get typecast into playing the role of an NRI woman. I pushed myself to become an avid listener of how people speak around me. If I need to be an actor, I should be able to switch in and out of the Indian accent. I also was not in favour of somebody else dubbing for me. The feedback I got for the longest time while getting rejected was, ‘You need to sound more Indian’. I didn’t speak Hindi before; I only learned it before I moved here.
It’s also a welcome change that you are a singer and yet, you got to play a ‘non-singing’ character. Often, singers are cast in the role of a singer or musician…
All credit goes to our casting director, Panchami Ghavri. I have been working with her for the last six years and she has never even once put me in an audition for a musician to this day. I must have done 40-50 auditions with her over the years. It’s amazing that she was always confident that I could act and that I needed to do things that weren’t in my comfort zone.
Tell us about your bond with Ananya Panday. You worked with her earlier in Liger (2022), in which you sang a song…
Annie and I met for the promotions of Liger, and we hit it off immediately. I also worked on the songs which didn’t become a part of this project, but it ended up making us close friends. 7-8 months later, when I got the role, she was the first person who messaged me. She knew before anyone else. She wrote to me, ‘I heard something. I can’t wait’. One of the first jokes she made was ‘You’re coming from my job now’ (laughs)!
She’s such a joy to work with and she really is a friend beyond set. It’s not surface-level; she deeply cares about everyone, and her work ethic is insane. Hence, it was incredible being opposite her. She is very good at what she does and that only happens with years and years of practice.
There’s a scene in the show where Satyajit (Vir Das) hangs her in the air. How was it for Ananya Panday to shoot that scene?
It was definitely difficult for her because she actually had to be on that harness for a very long time. She dubbed for Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023) and then came to shoot the scene. Hence, she had a very long day and then we stuck her in the air; poor thing (smiles).
In your entry scene, we see Satyajit talking gibberish. But you and others don’t give a damn as it must be an everyday thing for you all. Tell us how it was to shoot that scene. Was it difficult to control your laughter?
That was impromptu. We had no idea he was going to say that. The first time when he said that, we all laughed quite a bit as it was unexpected. He’s quite good at being a comedian. There were a lot of times when he would deliver 3-4 lines extra, and it also worked out well.
Which was the most difficult scene for you?
That would be the confrontation scene backstage (after Satyajit reveals on his show that Karishma Tanna’s character Naina Khanna is pregnant). It was also my audition scene. It’s difficult because I had to change from being upset with him as a colleague to melting as she realizes that she’s also his girlfriend. It was hard to get the change within a few moments.
Often, films or shows talk about burning issues but it might not work due to the timing. Call Me Bae, however, came at a time when the #MeToo allegations from the Malayalam industry shocked the country. Do you think that the show’s impact is much more due to its apt release period?
I feel that a show like this, for better or worse, will always be relevant. We live in a world where we have a lot of work to do to make lives fair for women. Until then, we’ll keep having such shows until we are doing better as a society for womenfolk.
You have also sung the song ‘Tere Bina Main’ and comes at a great juncture. It also has a nice, classy vibe; it’s a song you’d like to hear while having a long drive. Please tell us about it.
I like that you said ‘Tere Bina Main’ because the title of the song is ‘Yaara Tere Bin’ which means you have actually listened to it (laughs)! And yes, we were very specific about using the song in that space. I pitched the music for this show two years ago. My friends RUUH-JOH and I composed it, and it was just on guitar at that time. I suggested that it’s a song that would fit really well at an intense romantic moment in the show. We also said that the sound is a bit heavier than what the content of the show is. But I believe that romance or sadness doesn’t have to sound in one specific way. There’s this really nice moment of intensity wherein all the music disappears and then it comes back. It perfectly suits the scene of the first kiss. Hence, it is not a coincidence that the song picks up in such a way. I am really glad that the thought, that we put behind the song, was executed well.
Call Me Bae’s Season 2 is announced. In Season 1, we don’t get to know where Harleen is from and who is there in her family. Will these aspects be addressed in the sequel?
Yes, it’ll be great if it happens. We now know more about Harleen and her character than we do about her background. Hence, I agree with you. I’d love to know what has made her the person that she is. I hope Ishita Moitra and the writing takes notice of this aspect. The show was written with the hope that it would get renewed for the next season. Hence, they have a rough idea of where the story would go.
What next?
The Royals will come on Netflix next year, in which you’ll see a lot of me on screen! It has an incredible cast. We have Bhumi Pednekar, Ishaan Khattar, Zeenat Aman and Sakshi Tanwar. In fact, Annie’s dad, Chunky Pandey, also features in The Royals. It was very fun working with him after working with her. I was sending each of them each other’s pictures! I would send his pictures to Annie, and he’d be like, ‘Oh my God, why are you doing this?’.
He is adorable…
Indeed. He has total dad energy; he is the sort of guy who behaves like he’s everybody’s dad! I can’t wait for people to watch The Royals because the world we have created is very massive. People are going to be shocked at its scale.
Also Read: Ananya Panday calls for government regulations to combat deepfake videos
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