Beyond the Call is an anti-motivational tale about choosing a steady pay-check over passion.
Teeli’s four-part corporate coming of age story reminds you that middle-class Pakistanis can’t afford dreams.
In the first episode, Raeed (Hunaen Shahid) breaks the fourth wall to explain he’s joining IBEX solely to make some quick cash for an electric guitar. He’s laser focused on his musical career. Little does he know that the minute he passes through the gleaming glass doors life is about to change. Corporate indoctrination kicks off as the the series shifts into a recruitment video. Raeed comments about how easy the money is “Intni si call ke derh laakh rupay.”
The series is sponsored by IBEX, and they don’t let you forget it. Frames are filled with logos and buzzwords and the messaging relentlessly hammers home how “amazing” it is to work there. The glossy surface betrays a toxic, money-driven culture with micromanaging supervisors, gossip-filled floors, constant monitoring, and absolutely no sense of greater purpose.
The show leans heavily on influencers as IBEX employees, Alizay (Areeka Haq) and Kashif (Ayaz Samo) give the office scenes a youthful vibe. The staff lounges about casually sipping tea and gossiping. But because IBEX famously has one of Pakistan’s toughest work cultures, the portrayal feels disingenuous.
Raeed is shown fielding calls from hyper-American customers, taking unlimited breaks, even recording a song during office hours. Anyone who’s survived an outsourcing floor knows the truth: every break is monitored, every minute tracked. By episode three, Raeed’s rebellious musician arc has melted into corporate compliance.
He is still considering resigning but the appeal of a regular salary is making him question his decision.
Ambitious Inaya (Anzela Abbasi), his supervisor and crush tells him off for even considering leaving. “But IBEX is your home!” she tells him after he’s worked there for three months.
She doubles down with the series’ thesis:
“Yeh saari cheezain sirf movies mein achi lagti hain.
Jitne artists tum admire karte ho, unke peeche unki ameer families hoti hain.”
Translation: make money for the company not yourself.
Raeed’s boss Moiz (Arsalan Shah, the GAME CEO in his acting debut) also delivers a pragmatic sermon on why money should always beat passion, using his own abandoned cricket dreams as proof. He is the series’ anti-inspirational speaker. who convinces Raeed that money makes life easier. Why bother chasing your dreams when you can chase dollar bills?
Beyond the Call is sleek, watchable and disturbingly capitalistic. The branded meditation on ambition concludes:
Don’t quit your day job because dreams are unrealistic and because rent exists.
Unlike Wali in Parwarish, who chased his dream despite the odds, Raeed surrenders to the allure of a comfortable pay-check. Little surprise that a series sponsored by corporate interests frames drudgery as responsibility.
