Ananya Panday finds it tough to describe her character Bella from Call Me Bae. From what we have seen in the trailer, Bella introduces herself as someone ‘born with a golden spoon.’ But Bella will quickly learn that all that glitters is not gold, as she will be forced to hustle and step outside her privileged bubble to see what it takes to survive. 

In this exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Ananya opened up about playing Bella, her reaction to the comparisons with Kareena Kapoor's iconic role as Poo from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and completing five years in Bollywood (which she does not want to be reminded of). Excerpts.

The trailer of Call Me Bae looks so much fun. Tell me a little bit about Bella and how similar or how different is she from Ananya?

I find this question really tough when I'm asked to describe Bella, because, you know, she's completely out of this world for me. As you said, we commonly hear born with a silver spoon, but she's taking it one step ahead and she's born with a golden spoon. So that goes to show that she's a very hyperreal character. She's an exaggerated version. I don't know anyone like Bella in real life. She's definitely an exaggerated version. She lives in her own bubble of privilege and her life…she's only known a certain thing in life.

She's grown up treated very differently from her brother, because she's a girl. So she's meant to be that perfect daughter and the perfect wife eventually. And then, she has to move to Bombay and figure her life out and hustle. So, in that journey she truly finds herself and finds what she likes and doesn't like.

On the surface, I think there are more differences in Bella than me. As I said, her entire journey is very, very different from my life and my journey, because I come from a very liberal home and I didn't have all these things that you have to look like this. You have to go here. Speak like this. I never had that sort of thing in my life. So trying to understand someone who experienced that since she was a baby was something new that I had to discover. In terms of similarities, I think I don't know if it's similar, but I really admire Bae's attitude towards life. She's who she is, very unapologetically. She's not scared of judgment. She's kind to everyone and she doesn't judge people, even though she may be so judged by everyone she comes across.

Call Me Bae also marks your debut in the OTT format, right? It's like a different debut, a different launch, like you mentioned. How is this format different than shooting for a film, because obviously you're shooting for a longer time here.

Yeah. I think like we shot for 50 days, which I think is also how much people do shoot for a film. So I think the shooting experience didn't feel as different from a film. I think, personally, for me this is my biggest character in terms of screen time, in terms of things to do. So, I had to be a lot more present and I had to be a lot more involved, which was different for me, but it also kind of made me feel like I've tasted blood now and I don't want to settle for anything less.

But also you get to explore a character a lot more when you're doing a series, because you can really get into the depth of a character. You have a lot more time to take the audience on a journey with you, which is satisfying as an actor.

In a recent interview, your father said both of you have fights at home regarding the fact that you do not choose more commercial cinema…

Oh, he said that? He has told everyone this also. Very good! (smiles)

Yes! He said that you say I'll do commercial cinema, but let me establish myself as an actor first. That's something you said to him. Does that mean, as an actor, you are consciously looking for projects that test you or test your craft and challenge you in ways that you haven't been before?

Yeah, for sure. I feel like firstly we live in a time right now, especially the past year, where that formula is not working anymore. You know, audiences are going in to watch different stories and different kind of performances and something different that itne gaane karne hain, iske saath movie karni he (You have to do these songs and work with this actor)… none of that is working anymore. So, as an actor, it's a very exciting time, because you're completely solely going on what the story is. So I'm not thinking so much ki is this commercial or not. No one knows. No one knows what is happening and what the audience is going to enjoy or not enjoy.

So, I think rather than thinking of the outcome, it's better to focus on the script and the character that you've got and then hope that, you know, it's a success, commercially or critically or wherever it's meant to go. But all I can think of right now is to just better myself as an actor and just grow from there and then whatever has to come will be a byproduct of your work.

At the trailer launch, Karan Johar said that if Rohan and Poo from K3G had a baby daughter, she would be Bella. So, I want to ask you if you think Bella is the Poo for a new generation and if that is a yes from you then like does it give you a lot more responsibility because Poo is such a beloved character. Even after so many years she is as beloved as she was when the film released.

For sure. I don't know if anyone can even come close to what Kareena [Kapoor] did with Poo. So I would hope that is my dream, that people love Bella even half as much as they like Poo, but I know growing up how much Poo was an inspiration to me, because even though she may seem like this sassy girl who's just going about life, I think she gave me, as a young girl a, lot of confidence to be myself. The way she used to talk, the way she used to deal with the people around her, the way she didn't let anyone disrespect her, I think she's actually a big icon. In doingthat and I also didn't know in how many ways she gave me confidence. So if Bella can do that for so many young girls and boys out there, that'll be a huge achievement.

You put it out so well because it's she's like the ideal. She's what we want to be.

Yeah, she's like the self-love queen and I think that's what we all should aim for.

Ananya, you also recently completed 5 years in the industry. Did you notice that?

Please don't remind me! I feel old!

Okay, okay. I won't! You came into the industry when the industry itself was at the cusp of a lot of change because obviously the pandemic happened and no one had ever seen something like that before. If you look back now at those 5 years, what are your biggest takeaways as a public figure, as a young actor in the industry.

I think the biggest takeaway would be to embrace change because everything is out of our control. As much as we like to believe that we can control this. We know what the audience likes. We know what we are doing next. No one knows anything and I think the better you are at adapting to change, the better it will be for you.

With everything happening, the pandemic, everyone had made so many plans and then the world came to a standstill and what are you meant to do? And then once the world restarted, it was like we've come into a different world now. Those things that we had planned to do before have changed. So I think the more open you are to change, it'll be better for you.

Tell me about this very meta comment that I'm sure you have been asked before, where you joke about struggle and obviously many have also picked up from the from the trailer. I wonder whether you've shared this particular moment with Siddhant Chaturvedi!

He reposted it! I didn't need to share it with him. I think as soon as he saw the trailer, he reposted and put it on his story and he was like I love it, guys, especially the end part. So yeah. It's all apparent games there.

He publicly put out his reaction, which was I love the end of this. So!

This particular moment has come in social media for so long, even though the interview is old. How has your relationship with Siddhant grown, because you've also done a different film with him in the meantime.

It's super chill. I mean, Sid and I have done two films, not even one film! He's actually the person I've worked with the most. Immediately after that interview, him and I spoke and it was all good with us. I think we both were just saying different things and all of that stuff which I've spoken about before, but nothing ever changed between us. Me and him have always had a relationship where we've been really open with each other and always told each other what we like, what we don't like. I think that's always how it's going to be with us. We're good friends.

Call Me Bae releases on Prime Video on September 6.

Read Also: Varun Grover supports Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency amid release delay: ‘Censorship is never right’