‘I feel like a superhero’: Abhishek Banerjee

Actor Abhishek Banerjee had for long wished that his name inched up the ladder in the closing credits. Now that it ends up as the second lead in most of his projects, the actors says he has not yet been able to celebrate his success with friends!

Next on travel list:

Italy.

Best city for partying:

Goa.

Place that brings peace:

Himachal Pradesh.

Something you recommend for binge-watch

Presumed Innocent.

Your most under-rated, but great work

Ajji, available on Prime Video.

Talking about achievements, Abhishek is the first actor in the past seven years to bag two releases on a same day in theatres. To which he humbly says, “These were the dreams that I actually came with when I first set foot in Mumbai. They are coming true!”

Then there’s the film Stolen, Abhishek’s first international project, which got recognised at the Venice Film Festival 2023, BFI London, and recently at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM). The Paatal Lok actor simply acknowledges that he is happy to work on so many different projects, and it doesn’t matter if it’s commercial or parallel cinema as long as the role interests him.

He adds, “But one thing is for sure, I am waiting for the makers to see me as the lead character in a movie or series. Also, I am interested in hearing some romantic comedy scripts.” One wonders after the success of two horror comedies, Munjya and Stree 2, which he has been a part of, whether the audience will be really interested in seeing him in romantic comedies! Viewers are actually flocking to cinema halls for horror comedies, while romantic comedies haven’t had many takers recently. “So I would take romantic comedy as a challenge then,” he says.

Abhishek enjoys the importance that his character holds in making Maddock Supernatural Universe, as he is part of all three supernatural horror flicks — Stree, Bhediya and Stree 2, and also has a cameo appearance in Munjya. “I feel like a superhero indeed. I am the anchor who can jump from one realm to another. It’s like I am the 2 am friend of everybody in the multiverse of superheroes, and the one who also has a connection with supervillains,” he quips.

As for the film Vedaa, where he plays a villain, Jitendar Pratap Singh, opposite actor John Abraham, he says, “I think every artiste, no matter the kind of cinema he does, would always want to be part of a good masala entertainer. I am trained theatre artiste, did parallel cinema and also stories that touch the side of realism. But back in the mind, I also had the desire to be part a masala film with a hero, heroine and a villain. Vedaa was that and so much more, for it helped me become a villain who did not have the standard six-pack abs and chiseled face, but a single pasli.”

He continues, “I think great villains were not the ones with a great body, but because of their thought process. Heath Ledger was not very bulky.”

Speaking of gundas, Abhishek is reminded how every colony in Delhi has one. He recalls how theirs had one named Laadi bhai, “But when I finally saw him, he was a five-foot guy, shorter than me and I was in school.” Abhishek also hails Delhi as a city that makes one capable of dealing with anything. “If you have lived in Delhi, you can live anywhere in the world. The capital teaches you how to be a fighter for life. I think the street-smartness that comes with living in Delhi is unmatchable. You have the confidence of walking out of the worst of situations. It also helped me in understanding my country better,” he shares.

On the recent rape and murder of a doctor in West Bengal, Abhishek says it is a sorry state of affairs across the world. Having played a sex offender in the film Apurva last year, he says, “It’s beyond imagination that we have become so advanced yet fail to grow as a society when it comes to respecting and safeguarding the other gender. I think it has to start from the basic upbringing of the male child and also education in schools; how to respect female bodies, differentiate between porn and reality and the value of consent. Most importantly, it is about telling that the male gender is not superior.”