Ananya Panday, who is all set to appear in her first web series, "Call Me Bae", expressed her desire to break free from the image people have of her in the audience and the industry.
She believes this will only happen when she is in a position to turn down roles that reinforce a certain stereotype. "Call Me Bae", created by Ishita Moitra and directed by Collin D'Cunha, follows Ananya's character Bae as she navigates a privileged life in New Delhi before being disowned by her family.
The eight-episode series is scheduled to premiere on Prime Video on September 6. Ananya, who made her acting debut in 2019 with the film "Student of the Year 2", mentioned that she sees "fighting perception" as an ongoing personal challenge.
"When you start up with a certain kind of film, people put you in a box and they would expect the same thing from you.
"So, I’m fighting the perception of what the audience thinks of me and the kind of work you get within the industry. When something of yours does well, you get the same offers, and it is up to us as actors if we have that position where we can say no," Ananya told PTI in an interview here.
Sometimes saying no is more important than yes because that defines you as an actor and a person, she added.
"You can be scared that, ‘Oh, this is such a big opportunity, what if I say no to this’. But then, in the long term, it does well because you are not feeding into a stereotype. "You are reinventing, challenging yourself and doing something different. All this might mean that you are missing out on something that seems big but actually, you are choosing growth over doing something similar." "Call Me Bae" marks the web series debut for the 25-year-old, whose previous films, such as "Gehraiyaan" and "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" were direct-to-digital releases.
Ananya said playing Bae, a young woman who goes on a riches-to-rags journey, was a "dream role" for her.
The series is executive produced by Dharmatic Entertainment's Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Somen Mishra.
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