Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Producer-director Karan Johar on Tuesday said it's been 23 years since Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham released and if two of its characters, Rohan Raichand and Pooja Sharma, had a baby girl, she would be Bae from the upcoming series Call Me Bae.
Johar, who serves as an executive producer on the Prime Video show, said the character of Bae -- played by Ananya Panday in her series debut -- is a "glorious Gen Z 2.0 derivative" of Kareena Kapoor Khan's iconic fashionista Poo aka Pooja from his 2001 feature film.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham ends with Poo and Rohan, essayed by Hrithik Roshan, tying the knot.
"If Rohan and Pooja now 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.
"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," Johar told reporters here at the trailer launch of the series.
Call Me Bae will see Panday essay the role of Bae, a billionaire fashionista, who is disowned by her ultra-rich family. How she fends for herself by becoming a journalist, overcomes stereotypes, and discovers who she really is forms the core of the story.
Johar said the series, directed by Collin D'Cunha and created by Ishita Moitra, is fun and cool but it also has a "universal appeal and message".
"Full credit to Ishita Moitra, who is the creator of the show along with her glorious team, both Rohit Nair and Samina Motlekar who have given all the fun, the needed and required gravitas (to the series).
"There are a lot of meaningful things that happen in the show through this character. But I will not say that it is a textbook-on-journalism kind of show. The show's communication and politics is strong, everyone in India and abroad will be able to relate to it," he added.
Call Me Bae hails from Dharmatic Entertainment, the digital arm of Johar's Dharma Productions. Besides Johar, Apoorva Mehta and Somen Mishra also serve as executive producers on the show.
Johar, who launched Panday in his 2017 production Student of the Year 2, said it is the actor's best work so far.
"Everyone watching stories that are from rags to riches, this is from riches to rags. And in a tone of humour, in a tone of irony, and also towards the end, a tone of empowerment depicted so beautifully by Ananya Panday.
"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," he added.
Also starring Vir Das, Mini Mathur, Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, and Vihaan Samat, Call Me Bae will arrive on Prime Video on September 6.