Casting room was my training ground, says ‘Stree’ actor Abhishek Banerjee

His character of Jana, a quirky friend to Rajkummar Rao’s Vicky in “Stree” is a real scene stealer but before landing his debut film Abhishek Banerjee worked behind the scenes discovering new talents.

The film fulfilled a long-cherished dream as Banerjee says he initially came to Mumbai to become an actor but he became a casting director after things did not work out, not knowing that destiny would make a turnaround.

“When I came to Mumbai to act and it didn’t work out for me for few years, I thought I will go back to training but casting room has been a great training space for me,” Banerjee told PTI in an interview.

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He has cast for films such as “Pari”, “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” and “Gabbar is Back”. The actor continues with his casting duties with upcoming films including - “Patakhaa”, “Kalank” and “Student of the Year 2”.

He says performing scenes with potential talents gave him a perspective about acting and how it is all about “action and reaction”.

“When you are reacting to a good actor, your reactions become better. You get to know what to tone down and how to make yourself believe in those characters. So, that room has really taught me a lot. You also understand the trend of the time. You get to evolve with the actors, you get to know how it’s moving,” he added.

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Banerjee’s chemistry with Rao and Aparshakti Khurana gives the film some of its most hilarious moments.

The actor believes the film’s message about treating women equally does not get lost in the laughs, in fact, they highlight it.

“Some films connect with you deeply. If a child sees the film, maybe he aspires to become like the hero. So, maybe if we make films like that, we will have more children growing up with this.”