Abhishek Banerjee recalls the time he felt he was banned

Before making his mark as an actor, Abhishek Banerjee started working as an assistant casting director in the industry. He is best known for casting in films like Phillauri, Luka Chuppi, Kalank and many others. When he sat down to chat on mid-day’s podcast series The Bombay Film Story, he admitted he kickstarted his career in casting to get in touch with filmmakers and find work.

Abhishek Banerjee on facing rejections

Abhishek always aspired to become an actor. When asked if casting direction was a way to gain access to filmmakers, pat came the reply, “Yes. I was not getting any access to directors anyway, but if I am a casting assistant I get some. I am sitting with directors, filmmakers, and they are hearing my cues and dialogues. I expected maybe that lands me a role, and it happened.”

He further added, “Milan Luthria offered me a role in Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. That role eventually went to Anjum Sharma. Something happened and they changed their mind, and the role went to someone else. I thought it’s going to be easy, but it was difficult. I was not able to crack the auditions I went for.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Abhishek on losing No One Killed Jessica

Highlighting how he has always been choosy, the Stree 2 actor shared that he was even offered No One Killed Jessica. “I did a film like Knockout, where I feel I didn’t fit. I am also very choosy. For No One Killed Jessica, Raaj Kumar Gupta offered me Manu Sharma’s friend’s role. I said no, I don’t want to do it. I wanted to do those pickpocket kinds of parts. I was not able to crack auditions. People were not calling me. I tried reaching out to many casting directors but no one showed any interest. Maybe I was banned.”

He reflected on the struggle, saying, “It took me 8 years for a director to tell me he wants to work with me, and it was Dev Makhija. He offered me Ugly Bar, Tandav and Ajji. For Ghanchakkar, when I gave an audition, Raaj Kumar Gupta and Gautam rejected it. And they are serious guys. Gautam had discovered Nawazuddin Siddiqui. When these guys were not happy with my performance, I felt there was something wrong with me or what I was doing on screen. It helped me as I realised, I needed to make some tweaks for the camera.”