EXCLUSIVE | Abhishek Banerjee on being called the best thing in Bhediya: 'These have to be the happiest days for me'

Abhishek Banerjee is a prolific casting director and now a proficient actor. He made a mark for himself by doing titles like Stree, Dream Girl, Paatal Lok, and the very recent Bhediya. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the actor opens up on getting all the accolades for the film, doing a monstrous show like Paatal Lok, and breaking away from his funny avatar with his upcoming projects like Rana Naidu and Apurva.

On completing a hat trick with Amar Kaushik with Stree, Bala, and Bhediya

We definitely understand each other completely. We are one of those actor-director duos that doesn’t really have to talk, we understand each other’s needs just by the look. We both have the same temperament, he also keeps himself as a student who’s always wanting to learn. I always look at him as a senior from college and always learn from him. I know the kind of vision he has and enjoy working with him.

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On being the scene-stealer in Bhediya

As an actor, you want yourself to be received well. ‘Ek taarif hoti hai aur ek taarifon ka pul hota hai,’ so this ‘pul’ makes me happy. This is the part of my life where I’m the happiest, keeping the critics happy, audiences happy, my director happy; these are the things that give me happiness. These have to be the happiest few days for me as an actor.

On shooting in Arunachal Pradesh

Location is very very important in any film. In _Stree_, Chanderi was very important, in Bala, Kanpur was very important. What I like about Amar Kaushik is that he makes a character out of his locations. This film couldn’t have been shot in any other place but Arunachal Pradesh because of the respect the Arunachalis have for the nature. They are basically co-existing with the nature. Also, apart from the fun we had, moving around the state, shooting at a place called Ziro where you have to travel for eight hours on muddy roads, the place doesn’t have any 2 stars or 3 stars hotels but very basic hotels, bathrooms without shower and bathing from the bucket everyday. These were very different experiences and lifestyles for all of us. We all were having fun, it was like a college or school trip.

On breaking away from comedy in Paatal Lok

It was very challenging and it was a scary part of my life. I was getting typecast in the kind of roles I was getting, the innocent boy and all. Bala was slightly different but the kind of offers I was getting were very similar. I knew I could play different characters because I’ve learned that craft. When people start putting you into a slot, you feel you’re also meant to be in that slot. When Hathoda Tyagi came my way, I wasn’t very excited because I felt this isn’t a character that fits me. I asked my producer and director why they thought of me. I wanted to do Ansari because I’m the likable boy, the innocent boy. Thank god, thank god they all thought I was apt for Hathoda Tyagi. When I came for the audition, naturally, it’s my instinct to get into a character because I’ve been acting for so many years. The day I gave the audition, I knew this was very special. I started with Devashish Makhija’s film called Ajji, which is a very dark film. It’s the story of a grandmother’s revenge on a rapist and I play the rapist. That was my first film that traveled to Busan and many other festivals. I got a lot of acclaim for playing a very dark and menacing character. That’s how my journey started, so when I got Stree, it was a completely different side of me. So these are the sides people have explored, I’m an actor. For instance a character like the one in _Rashmi Rocket,_ which neither fits in comedy nor villainy. It’s a character somewhere in the middle, and it earned me my first film nomination.

On evolution of comedy

Making faces is nothing. That’s the easiest part. But, are you making faces according to the way the character is supposed to be making faces? To restrain yourself, bend yourself, and then be funny is the difficult part. In a funny film, everyone expects you to be funny, but you’re not playing that funny character. These are our descriptions. For me, comedy has to be situational.

On his next projects Rana Naidu and Apurva

For sure, very different from what I have been doing before. Rana Naidu is a very big risk for me, my biggest experiment as an actor, I have completely changed myself, it’s going to be my biggest test. I like taking risks at the cost of being written-off. Sometimes, when people don’t like me when I take risks, it’s okay. All my favorite directors- Suparn Varma, Karan Anshuman, we have worked together in _Mirzapur_ that was a small stint. There’s Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh, I loved working with them. I loved acting with both of them. Sushant Singh happens to be from the same college as mine so I had a great chemistry with him too. Apurva is also a lot of fun, I hope it happens to be an edgy, gritty thriller that we are trying to make.

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