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‘Now I have understood that an actor needs to switch on and off between action and cut.’
‘I take my characters only from the vanity van to vanity van.’
‘When I put on the makeup and wear the costume, I’m in character.’
‘The minute I remove the makeup and take off my costume, I am out of it.’
Photograph: Kind courtesy Abhishek Banerjee/Instagram
It’s a double bill for Abhishek Banerjee this Independence Day.
For the first time in his career, he has two releases on the same day: Stree 2 and Vedaa.
While he’s hilarious in the first, he unleashes his evil side in the second, and reminds us of his terrific performance as a sexual predator in Ajji.
“My character in Ajji was very, very, complex. I had anger issues after that. I was borderline depressed,” Abhishek confesses to Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com in the second segment of a multi-part interview.
Your role of a sexual predator in Ajji is one of your finest performances. It came way before Pataal Lok, Apurva and Vedaa. What is it about these dark characters that excite you?
It’s not me, it is the directors. It is them who consider me perfect for such roles.
When a director likes me and they if they are unable to offer me a protagonist part due to various reasons, they feel like let’s use Abhishek somewhere by giving him something good.
The next good thing is the antagonist, which is always so well-written and powerful. Maybe that’s why I get these roles.
But as an actor, I’ve done drama with Avinash (Arun) in Unpaused.
I’ve tried a little bit of romance in Ankahi Kahaniya.
I did a romantic comedy in The Great Weddings of Munnes.
IMAGE: As Hathoda Tyagi in Paatal Lok. Photograph: Kind courtesy Abhishek Banerjee/Instagram
The villains you have portrayed are not simple characters, they are psychologically complex people. How do you detach yourself from such characters?
It was difficult when I played Dhavle in Ajji.
He was very, very complex. I had anger issues after that. I was borderline depressed.
I was young and did not know how to release the character from my system. It took a toll on me.
The worst human beings are those who prey on kids.
I was recently offered a similar role, but I said no. I can’t go into that space again.
But now I have understood that an actor needs to switch on and off between action and cut.
You know who told me this? Raj Nidimoru.
He said, why don’t you practice switch on and off if it is bothering you so much?
I listened to him, because I can’t be this guy who gets into a weird zone and stays like that.
Now it’s all craft, all skill, all technique.
I take my characters only from the vanity van to vanity van. When I put on the makeup and wear the costume, I’m in character. The minute I remove the makeup and take off my costume, I am out of it.
What’s the story behind Casting Bay? How did you start off as casting director?
Casting Bay happened because two boys, Abhishek Banerjee and Anmol Ahuja, came from Delhi. We had some experience in casting in Delhi as we used to do theatre there.
Gautam Kishanchandani, who used to cast for Anurag Kashyap, had come to Delhi for Dev D and we assisted him.
He then offered me a job with him in Bombay and Anmol later joined me here. We did it for the sake of just doing some work.
He wanted to be a director, I wanted to do the acting, and it was not like someone was sitting here, offering us work.
That’s very much all the young men and women in India.
They finish studies and then find a job, which may not be their favourite one. They may have to do something which runs their kitchen so that they don’t pressurise their family for money.
Yes, I trained myself to be an actor but had to be practical about things.
IMAGE: With wife Tina Noronha. Photograph: Kind courtesy Abhishek Banerjee/Instagram
How much money did you make while starting out as casting director?
It gave me enough money to pay my rent.
It gave me enough money to own a Santro in those days.
It gave me enough money to vacation to foreign countries with my wife.
It gave me enough money to buy my parents a humble house in their hometown, Kharagpur.
I was fulfilling all the duties of a son and husband, and was happy with that.
How did you create your niche in the industry as casting director?
It happened because of OTT.
Those days, no star would want to do an OTT show. For them, it was like stepping down.
So we got a free hand in casting whoever we could.
That is how Mirzapur, Inside Edge, Panchayat, Paatal Lok, Scam and Made In Heaven happened.
That is how most of the TVF shows happened.
You see raw actors there, no stars, and all those shows are big hits.
