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'It was a very disorganised industry back then and people were very disrespectful towards actors.'
From Kharagpur to Mumbai Abhishek Banerjee moved forward with determination to make his career in the spotlight.
He took up his first gig as casting director so that he didn't have to worry about looming rent and bills, simultaneously hustling for his acting dream.
Over the next few years, he went on to become a reliable actor, even as his professional endeavour Casting Bay ushered many actors' way into sparking careers.
It's all about the talent, of course.
"Just because somebody is nice to me doesn't guarantee a job. If Raghav Juyal is being cast by Casting Bay in back-to-back projects, it is not because he is sending sweets to our homes. He is simply giving good auditions," Abhishek tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com in this concluding part of the interview.
Do actors pretend to be nice to you to land acting jobs? How do you see through the façade?
I understand that every actor needs a job, yaar.
If they are trying to be nice to me, I have nothing against it. The only thing is that they have to be good in the audition room.
Just because somebody is nice to me doesn't guarantee a job.
If Raghav Juyal is being cast by Casting Bay in back-to-back projects, it is not because he is sending sweets to our homes. He is simply giving good auditions.
What are your fun interactions with actors from the audition room?
It's been a while honestly since I have actually monitored auditions. I have not stepped inside an audition room in six years.
Any actor that you were not sure about but later became a success story?
There's nobody I was not sure about.
Actors, who are good, will do good.
I always knew Shreya Dhanwanthary is a good actor and she will make a mark. And she did.
I always knew Wamiqa Gabbi would be a good actor.
I knew Vicky Kaushal was going to be a big star.
I knew Jaideep Ahlawat was going to make a mark.
The same goes for Priyanshu Painyuli.
The first few opportunities are easy to find, sometimes you can also rise up to stardom overnight. But it is on them how they sustain that.
What was your hustle like when you were finding acting opportunities for yourself?
I was very disappointed with the audition process. I didn't really give many auditions, to be honest.
It was a very disorganised industry back then and people were very disrespectful towards actors.
If you are not somebody, nobody would give you any time. I used to hate that.
I only went for auditions where I liked the casting directors or who called me respectfully, like Abhimanyu Ray. I gave many auditions with him.
I also gave many auditions with Gautam Kishanchandani, who always rejected me!
Mukesh Chhabra would audition me a lot and would cast me in many projects.
I did short films, a few of them were with Devashish Makhija (Director, Ajji). I also did a few indie films because they do not take any auditions.
Amar Kaushik spotted me in one of those films and offered me Stree. And then I started getting more films.
Are you happy with the kind of roles coming you way?
I get nice offers but would want more than what I already have.
There's a huge list of directors I want to work with.
I want that kind of madness where I'm struggling hard to choose between film-makers and scripts.
You've not seen me in films with any big directors.
Nikkhil Advani (Vedaa) is the most experienced director I have worked with so far. The others were mostly new.
So there is only one experienced director who has shown faith in me, imagine how many more I need!
It's slowly happening now.
What's next?
Rana Naidu 2 is coming up.
Then there's Stolen, which has won many awards internationally.
Section 84 with Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan has Ribhu Dasgupta as director.
Vipul Shah's Hisab has Shefali Shah, Jaideep Ahlawat and me in it.
