Shruti Haasan on Call Me Bae 2 and finding her place in Ananya Panday's world

Shruti Haasan opened up about joining Call Me Bae Season 2, a show she said was outside her usual space. She also discussed the changing relationship between cinema and streaming platforms.

In Short

• Shruti said her admiration for Ananya Panday made the project appealing
• She said friends' excitement over season one pushed her to watch
• She described streaming's early phase as a gateway for varied stories

Shruti Haasan is set to be part of Amazon Prime's Call Me Bae Season 2, a project that took her slightly outside her usual space. The actor spoke about joining the series, her admiration for Ananya Panday and the changing relationship between cinema and streaming platforms at India Today South Conclave 2026 in Kochi, Kerala, on September 30.

Shruti was speaking during a session titled ‘A league of her own: Crafting a legacy through film and song’, where she opened up about her upcoming projects and her evolving relationship with different forms of storytelling.

Shruti Haasan on Call Me Bae Season 2

Shruti admitted that Call Me Bae was not a show she would have immediately gravitated towards, but her friends' enthusiasm for the first season made her curious about the series.

“It is just not the show that I gravitated to immediately. But it was all my friends who were like, ‘Have you seen it? It is so fun!’” she said.

The actor added that she has always liked Ananya Panday and followed her journey, which also made the opportunity to enter the world of Call Me Bae interesting for her.

“I’ve always liked Ananya and her journey and when Collen, our director, came to me with the story I was super excited to see how can I fit into this world and I think people will like it,” she said.

Call Me Bae, starring Ananya Panday in the lead, follows Bella ‘Bae’ Chowdhary as she navigates a new life in Mumbai after losing her privileged lifestyle. The first season premiered on Prime Video in 2024, and the series was later renewed for a second season.

Shruti Haasan on cinema and streaming

Shruti also spoke about the changing relationship between cinema and streaming platforms, saying that the industry now needs to find a healthier and more symbiotic balance between the two.

“I think we need to now find a more healthier and symbiotic relationship,” she said.

Recalling the early days of streaming, Shruti said the platforms were initially viewed as a “new golden goose” that could create opportunities for different kinds of films and stories that audiences wanted to watch.

However, she pointed out that streaming platforms now have a much greater influence over the business of films, including through pre-sales.

“Now we have gone back into the same loop that we always had,” she said.

Shruti said the current phase calls for a more artistically symbiotic relationship between cinema and streaming. She believes communication, experimentation and trial and error will be important as the industry works towards finding that balance.

Apart from Call Me Bae Season 2, Shruti Haasan also has an interesting line-up of films ahead. She will also be seen in Pavan Sadineni's Aakasamlo Oka Tara, which stars Dulquer Salmaan in the lead and is scheduled to release on November 20.

She will also be reprise her role alongside Prabhas in Salaar: Part 2 – Shouryanga Parvam, the sequel to the 2023 action film directed by Prashanth Neel.

- Ends