Abhishek Banerjee addresses his, Shraddha Kapoor, Aparshakti Khurana’s limited screen time in Stree 2: ‘Ye unka lalach hai’

Abhishek calls this moment in his career ‘surreal’. “It is unbelievable. I am listening to beautiful stories about how people are enjoying the movie, whistling and clapping at every scene, and turning in the film, they are dancing to the songs. To be a part of a franchise that is so big and the audience is giving so much love, is very definitely a sense of achievement here.

Remembering how his father would complain that he’s not enjoying films being made these days, and how there is no clapping and whistling in cinema halls, he shares, “Everybody is celebrating, not only is, even the audience, the media. There is a long queue outside cinema halls, when was the last time we saw that happening? The way people are watching it multiple times feels like free mein film dikha rahe hai. My father always told me, ‘yeh kya cinema banate ho, pehle aisa hota tha, Bachchan aataa screen pe aur audience taali bajati thi, ab aisa nahi hota, mazaa nahi aataa…’ Last year I witnessed that thanks to Mr Shah Rukh Khan’ films, Pathaan and Jawan. And this year we have Stree 2, it is like a surreal situation. It is crazy.”

 

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While Stree 2 is receiving immense love and the box office figures are proof, Abhishek is getting a lot of appreciation for his portrayal of Jana. In a particular scene, he shares the screen space with his “idol” Akshay Kumar and it is quite a fun watch. On this, he says, “I am a huge Akshay Kumar fan. I have been his fan since Khiladi days. I have watched, enjoyed, and loved his Khiladi, Khiladiyo Ka Khiladi, Sabse Bada Khiladi, Mr and Mrs Khiladi, that film of his where he is hurting Undertaker, I used to be one of those kids who used to cheer for him.

“Along with his action films, his comedy is great too. His comic timing is impeccable, he is amazing. Garam Masala is one of my favourite movies, whenever I feel sad, I switch it on and start watching it,” he adds.

Talking about how Amar Kaushik introduced Akshay’s cameo in the film, Abhishek shares, “One day suddenly Amar (Kaushik) bhai started telling me that we have one special appearance. That was like a bomb. Akshay Kumar could be doing a special cameo in Stree 2? Hearing that I was jumping because he was in the same frame as me.”

Talking about being Mumtaz to Akshay’s Salim in the movie, Abhishek says, “I had already read the scene, but I knew when I would meet him it would be a jam session. I knew that he would improvise and I also knew that I would also want to improvise, and that’s what happened. We broke the ice within the first five minutes of meeting each other on the set. He started discussing, ‘aur kya kar sakte hai scene mein’. I have some suggestions, he gave his input and that scene happened. It was like a roller-coaster ride. I went home a happy man, I told all my friends, ‘bro, aaj main Akshay Kumar ke saath film kar ke aaya hoon (chuckles)’. I can’t get over this moment.”

Abhishek is a connecting factor in all the films in Maddock’s horror comedy universe. He says, he was thankful for the opportunity and thought that he “continue to be employed”. He also revealed that he was unaware that his scene would be used in Munjya because he had shot it for Stree 2.

 

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“I was so happy that I am getting so much work. I was honestly thinking kitna kaam milega mujhe, I would continue to be employed. In Bhediya, my character was not supposed to be Jana, it was a different character. It was Amar Kaushik’s idea, he said that he wanted to keep this character as Jana. He was the one to connect the entire universe and storyline”.

The actor also addressed his, and his co-stars Shraddha Kapoor and Aparshakti Khurana’s limited screen time. “I didn’t feel that way. If the audience feels that way, yeh toh unka pyaar hai (it is their work). This means that the work was good and they want more of it, unko lalach (greed) ho rahi hai (laughs). Everybody who feels that either Aparshakti and Shraddha Kapoor have a limited screentime is because they have done great work.”