"Directors Will Find You": Abhishek Banerjee On What It Takes To Come To Bollywood With No Ties

Every time we come across a story of an actor who comes with no ties in the industry, their journey feels personal. Their wins feel more cathartic. As if we know them. Abhishek Banerjee is one such name. The actor who had two releases in August this year is also someone we all look forward to seeing more of. His performances are what you call raw and organic. He knows his craft well, and it shows. However, these journeys that make up for great stories are not just stories, they come bearing a lot of struggle – most of which goes unseen. Which makes it all the more important to focus on those struggles, the behind the scenes of the making of these artists.

Abhishek Banerjee is known to be very good at two things in filmmaking – acting and casting. Casting Bay, his firm is one of those spaces that makes the industry more accessible for actors. His performances are the kind that stay with you, he has that impact. Understandably, it takes work. In this exclusive chat with ScoopWhoop, the actor opened about his journey and process.

We started with ambition – from the literal beginning of his journey. And how we ended up choosing acting as the final goal.

“Maybe, lack of friends. When I was growing up, my dad was in the defense services. So he used to keep getting posted every few years. I’m an only child. So it used to be difficult to make new friendships. From my childhood, I was always the guy who would imagine. I’m not saying I had imaginary friends (chuckles), but I used to play games with my imagination. So I think the knack of visualization and characterization started very early on. Then I did not know that I wanted to pursue this, till like 11th standard – when I was doing terribly in my studies. I was a science student. But I used to always be a part of extracurricular activities. Finally, once I was getting on stage, a teacher taunted me, “Tu yehi kar, tujhse yehi hoga.” She meant it as a taunt and I took it seriously.”

His path to becoming a mainstream actor wasn’t as direct, there were some stops in between. Like working as a casting assistant and eventually starting his own firm. He shared how that started.

To find employment. You come to Bombay, you come from a government family and you don’t have the money to support yourself. So I had no option but to find a job. I started assisting Gautam Kishanchandani who is still a very senior casting director.”

He then talked about his earlier days in Mumbai.

“I started from Malad, I used to take a train to Bandra. I worked with Cinevista, a TV production house as a casting assistant. My monthly salary was ₹4,500 because I was sharing the job with another friend who needed a job very badly. Now he’s a successful ad-film producer. I was always this guy who’d seek support from friends and also give them support. That’s how I started my journey with ₹4,500 per month and taking some ₹3000 – ₹4000 from my dad because that’s how much he could afford. Then from Malad, to Andheri, it took me three years. Since then I’ve been living in Andheri in different types of places.”

Mumbai definitely comes with its own struggles for artists. For outsiders, this is specifically true. So we asked Abhishek how it was for him.

“I mean I can’t complain because I have two releases in August alone. I was completely an outsider, but I never felt that that could be a roadblock. My seniors always taught me (Rajkumar Gupta, Gautam Kishanchandani) that if you are a good actor, directors will find you. Then the era of Irrfan began when I was in Bombay. Films like Paan Singh Tomar, Namesake, Haasil were doing so well. And we just saw this charisma of an actor who has come from nowhere and he was making a mark in films. When you have such examples, you feel like there is hope. Yes it is difficult, the number of opportunities you get is much less. The room for mistakes is lesser. You can’t hurt egos. There is pressure. So yes, it’s difficult but it’s not impossible. And my two releases are a testament to that.”

There are logistics involved with casting. For him, though, these particulars don’t impact his performances.

“No, no, never. When I’m acting I switch off. In fact, nothing, not even personal life affects me then. My dad was diagnosed with stage I cancer when I was shooting for Stree. I finished my schedule, and I was also performing comedy. But that’s what you hear, right? “The show must go on” and stuff like that. Whatever casting pressures used to be there, I used to deal with. I remembered I used to finish a shot and take calls with actors and directors, when I was more involved with the creative process [of casting]. So I think when I’m on set, in front of the camera, nothing can affect me.”

He then shared the genres he’s now interested in purusing.

“I would like to do more action because I think it’s my forte. I mean, I’ve done comedy, people have seen me in it. But I want to do more action, because I think I can do it. I’m familiar with the timing, the choreography – it’s just more fun. I would like to do romance – not the saree flying romance. But something raw, something real. A biography maybe.”

Understandably, he too has a list of directors he wants to work with. It comes with becoming an actor. This is his list:

“Shoojit Sircar, Sriram Raghavan, Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta, Raj & DK, Anubhav Sinha. There are some very new ones, Randeep Jha, Pulkit. I mean, so many of them, I don’t think I can just take a few names.”

While talking about Casting Bay, his firm, he also opened up what makes it stand out. More specifically, the motto behind it.

“When we started, we always told ourselves that what we need to do is give new actors and new faces to the industry. If you recently see an actor called Shubhrajyoti Barat (in Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper), he’s a big theater actor, and we had cast him a long time back, in Ghanchakkar. The idea is to always find such actors, actors who are not getting their dues, who understand their craft. Our company always works like an agent for these actors, jinke pass agent hai nahi. We will do everything in our capacity to convince the directors that they are the best fit. I think that’s the motto of Casting Bay.”

The actor also shared the upcoming projects where his fans can find him.

Hisaab with Vipul Shah, Section 84 will be released very soon. I’ve also started Rana Naidu, season 2. Then there’s Stolen – which is a film that has traveled from Venice to Melbourne, to Japan and China – everywhere – it’s now gaining momentum in the international market. Finally we are looking for distributors and producers in India to collaborate for it.