diff --git a/example/example11.cpp b/example/example11.cpp
index 1a472c9e8..5a91ee298 100644
--- a/example/example11.cpp
+++ b/example/example11.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ void kw_func4(const std::vector<int> &entries) {
     std::cout << endl;
 }
 
+void call_kw_func(py::function f) {
+    py::tuple args = py::make_tuple(1234);
+    py::dict kwargs;
+    kwargs["y"] = py::cast(5678);
+    f(*args, **kwargs);
+}
+
 void init_ex11(py::module &m) {
     m.def("kw_func", &kw_func, py::arg("x"), py::arg("y"));
     m.def("kw_func2", &kw_func, py::arg("x") = 100, py::arg("y") = 200);
@@ -30,4 +37,5 @@ void init_ex11(py::module &m) {
     list.push_back(17);
 
     m.def("kw_func4", &kw_func4, py::arg("myList") = list);
+    m.def("call_kw_func", &call_kw_func);
 }
diff --git a/example/example11.py b/example/example11.py
index 04baa7bc9..948b0fd7c 100755
--- a/example/example11.py
+++ b/example/example11.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import pydoc
 
 sys.path.append('.')
 
-from example import kw_func, kw_func2, kw_func3, kw_func4
+from example import kw_func, kw_func2, kw_func3, kw_func4, call_kw_func
 
 print(pydoc.render_doc(kw_func, "Help on %s"))
 print(pydoc.render_doc(kw_func2, "Help on %s"))
@@ -33,3 +33,5 @@ except Exception as e:
 
 kw_func4()
 kw_func4(myList = [1, 2, 3])
+
+call_kw_func(kw_func2)
diff --git a/example/example5.cpp b/example/example5.cpp
index 4ba6a34f4..11d37d0ef 100644
--- a/example/example5.cpp
+++ b/example/example5.cpp
@@ -43,12 +43,12 @@ void dog_bark(const Dog &dog) {
 }
 
 bool test_callback1(py::object func) {
-    func.call();
+    func();
     return false;
 }
 
 int test_callback2(py::object func) {
-    py::object result = func.call("Hello", 'x', true, 5);
+    py::object result = func("Hello", 'x', true, 5);
     return result.cast<int>();
 }
 
diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index 5beb21ace..4ee79d204 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ template <return_value_policy policy = return_value_policy::automatic_reference,
     return result;
 }
 
-template <typename... Args> object handle::call(Args&&... args) const {
+template <typename... Args> object handle::operator()(Args&&... args) const {
     tuple args_tuple = pybind11::make_tuple(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
     object result(PyObject_CallObject(m_ptr, args_tuple.ptr()), false);
     if (!result)
@@ -804,6 +804,24 @@ template <typename... Args> object handle::call(Args&&... args) const {
     return result;
 }
 
+template <typename... Args> object handle::call(Args &&... args) const {
+    return operator()(std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+}
+
+inline object handle::operator()(detail::args args) const {
+    object result(PyObject_CallObject(m_ptr, args.ptr()), false);
+    if (!result)
+        throw error_already_set();
+    return result;
+}
+
+inline object handle::operator()(detail::args args, detail::kwargs kwargs) const {
+    object result(PyObject_Call(m_ptr, args.ptr(), kwargs.ptr()), false);
+    if (!result)
+        throw error_already_set();
+    return result;
+}
+
 #define PYBIND11_MAKE_OPAQUE(Type) \
     namespace pybind11 { namespace detail { \
         template<> class type_caster<Type> : public type_caster_base<Type> { }; \
diff --git a/include/pybind11/eigen.h b/include/pybind11/eigen.h
index f2f098592..fa61a1188 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/eigen.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/eigen.h
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ struct type_caster<Type, typename std::enable_if<is_eigen_sparse<Type>::value>::
 
         if (obj.get_type() != matrix_type.ptr()) {
             try {
-                obj = matrix_type.call(obj);
+                obj = matrix_type(obj);
             } catch (const error_already_set &) {
                 PyErr_Clear(); 
                 return false;
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ struct type_caster<Type, typename std::enable_if<is_eigen_sparse<Type>::value>::
             { sizeof(StorageIndex) }
         ));
 
-        return matrix_type.call(
+        return matrix_type(
             std::make_tuple(data, innerIndices, outerIndices),
             std::make_pair(src.rows(), src.cols())
         ).release();
diff --git a/include/pybind11/functional.h b/include/pybind11/functional.h
index ae3e8b38a..f74a9bdf9 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/functional.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/functional.h
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ public:
         object src(src_, true);
         value = [src](Args... args) -> Return {
             gil_scoped_acquire acq;
-            object retval(src.call(std::move(args)...));
+            object retval(src(std::move(args)...));
             /* Visual studio 2015 parser issue: need parentheses around this expression */
             return (retval.template cast<Return>());
         };
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
index c9b40b4b0..efa2fa898 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pybind11.h
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ protected:
             if (a.descr)
                 a.descr = strdup(a.descr);
             else if (a.value)
-                a.descr = strdup(((std::string) ((object) handle(a.value).attr("__repr__")).call().str()).c_str());
+                a.descr = strdup(((std::string) ((object) handle(a.value).attr("__repr__"))().str()).c_str());
         }
         auto const &registered_types = detail::get_internals().registered_types_cpp;
 
@@ -1202,7 +1202,7 @@ inline function get_overload(const void *this_ptr, const char *name)  {
         pybind11::gil_scoped_acquire gil; \
         pybind11::function overload = pybind11::get_overload(this, #name); \
         if (overload) \
-            return overload.call(__VA_ARGS__).template cast<ret_type>();  }
+            return overload(__VA_ARGS__).template cast<ret_type>();  }
 
 #define PYBIND11_OVERLOAD(ret_type, class_name, name, ...) \
     PYBIND11_OVERLOAD_INT(ret_type, class_name, name, __VA_ARGS__) \
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index 82725ce47..99fb5034e 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class str;
 class object;
 class dict;
 class iterator;
-namespace detail { class accessor; }
+namespace detail { class accessor; class args; class kwargs; }
 
 /// Holds a reference to a Python object (no reference counting)
 class handle {
@@ -43,11 +43,17 @@ public:
     inline detail::accessor attr(const char *key) const;
     inline pybind11::str str() const;
     template <typename T> T cast() const;
-    template <typename ... Args> object call(Args&&... args_) const;
+    template <typename ... Args> 
+    [[deprecated("call(...) was deprecated in favor of operator()(...)")]]
+    object call(Args&&... args) const;
+    template <typename ... Args> object operator()(Args&&... args) const;
+    inline object operator()(detail::args args) const;
+    inline object operator()(detail::args args, detail::kwargs kwargs) const;
     operator bool() const { return m_ptr != nullptr; }
     bool operator==(const handle &h) const { return m_ptr == h.m_ptr; }
     bool operator!=(const handle &h) const { return m_ptr != h.m_ptr; }
     bool check() const { return m_ptr != nullptr; }
+    inline detail::args operator*() const;
 protected:
     PyObject *m_ptr;
 };
@@ -212,6 +218,17 @@ private:
     ssize_t pos = 0;
 };
 
+class kwargs : public handle {
+public:
+    kwargs(handle h) : handle(h) { }
+};
+
+class args : public handle {
+public:
+    args(handle h) : handle(h) { }
+    kwargs operator*() const { return kwargs(*this); }
+};
+
 inline bool PyIterable_Check(PyObject *obj) {
     PyObject *iter = PyObject_GetIter(obj);
     if (iter) {
@@ -315,6 +332,7 @@ inline detail::accessor handle::attr(handle key) const { return detail::accessor
 inline detail::accessor handle::attr(const char *key) const { return detail::accessor(ptr(), key, true); }
 inline iterator handle::begin() const { return iterator(PyObject_GetIter(ptr()), false); }
 inline iterator handle::end() const { return iterator(nullptr, false); }
+inline detail::args handle::operator*() const { return detail::args(*this); }
 
 class str : public object {
 public: