Stree 2 actor Abhishek Banerjee calls director Amar Kaushik ‘a bully’: He can swear very badly about acting | Bollywood

Aside from the scares and laughs, it’s the on-screen camaraderie between the cast, who also star in… Rajkummar RaoShraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi and Aparshakti Khurana, who form the basis of this latest film in Maddock Films’ horror-comedy universe.

Directed by Amar Kaushik and written by Niren Bhatt, street 2 Has raised more than ₹600 crore in India since its release on August 15. Abhishek, who reprised his role as the likeable dork Jana, said actors have the “freedom” to improvise on set.

“What works for us is that we can be very ruthless with each other and we can really make fun of each other. We can really laugh at the co-actor because he has improvised badly and it’s not funny. Normally, you don’t do that on a film set, you would think twice before insulting your co-actor, we don’t. When you are so naked in front of your co-actors, that’s when the best lines come out,” the actor told PTI in an interview.

But they don’t take this freedom for granted, he said, adding that they “maintain decorum” no matter how much the film’s screenwriter says they’re still trying.

“Sometimes Raj and I have a bad habit of going off track. But sometimes the ‘zyada’ (extra) that we do also works because the grammar of the film is like that. There are times when I say something stupid and Raj makes fun of me. Apar says something stupid and I make fun of him. Or Raj says something and we all say ‘no, no’. We are very open.”

Abhishek said Amar, who made his directorial debut with Stree in 2018, is part of the league. “Amar bhai (brother) is a goon from Kanpur, no matter how much he pretends to be a distinguished gentleman,” he quipped.

“He has that Kanpuriya air about him. He can insult you very badly for your humour or the way you act. He can say ‘Abey, kya kar raha hai ye? Ye kahan se seekh ke aaya hai’ (What are you doing? Where did you learn this from?). He is always on his toes. And, Pankaj ji, I don’t think he needs to do anything. He is someone who can make air look funny. Sometimes I laugh watching the things he does,” he added.

The actor said the cast is a “very confident” group of actors.

“And even if we feel insecure, we say everything out loud. I used to do this a lot during song recordings and say ‘Mujhe centre frame chahiye’ (I want to be in the centre of the frame) just to irritate my co-stars.”

In an earlier interview with PTI, Niren credited Abhishek for a popular line from Stree 2: “Tu Bhediya hai, Animal mat ban (You are a Bhediya, don’t try to be an Animal)” when Jana asks Varun Dhawan’s Bhaskar to keep quiet when she asks him to be introduced to Shraddha’s mysterious unnamed wife.

Asked how he came up with the witty line, a clear reference to the controversial 2023 film Animal starring Ranbir Kapoor, the actor said he tries to keep up with the times.

“As an actor, it is my moral responsibility to live in reality first and not in the dream society of movie stars. I like to travel, I like to see the kind of language people use and then use that kind of emotion when the time comes.

“If you have seen Stree 2, that means these people (the characters) have seen the other film too. (I assume) Jana and Bhaskar have also seen Animal… Varun’s character was a lecher and I had to tell him that you are not an animal. Tum sirf ek jaanwar nahin ho, tum usse upar ho (You are not an animal, you are capable of that),” he recalled.

With the success of Stree 2, Abhishek said he is happy to be a part of the annals of Hindi cinema. He believes all those years of rejection are finally behind him.

“Now I can focus on doing good work. I feel more included not only by the industry but also by the public. We are artists and we need to have some kind of relationship with the public. Now I know that they not only know me, but they also love my work… This is the moment that all artists live for.”

The 39-year-old actor, also a prominent casting director who runs Casting Bay with Anmol Ahuja, said there are many things in the industry that are temporary and stardom is one of them.

“You can suddenly hit stardom, start getting lots of roles, you might have a really good year, and then it can all fall apart the following year, especially with newcomers who don’t know the rules of the industry…

“When you’re on the way up, you don’t know what a fall means. Acceptance doesn’t come easily. It’s a huge country and they have a lot of parameters for accepting an actor. You have to constantly fight those parameters, not just from the industry but from the audience as well,” he said.

Abhishek, who started doing theatre while studying at Delhi’s Kirori Mal College, said his formative years in the city prepared him well for survival in Mumbai.

“Delhi gave me confidence and made me smart. You don’t have to bow down to anyone and Delhi has that kind of attitude no matter where you come from. I had many tough days but no matter how stressful they were, I never got a chance to get bitter.”

The actor is currently filming the second season of the Netflix series Rana Naidu. He will next be seen in the courtroom drama Section 84 with Ribhu Dasgupta and Hisaab, a heist thriller with Vipul Shah that reunites him with his Paatal Lok co-star Jaideep Ahlawat.

When asked what’s cooking in the Stree universe, Abhishek said it’s a secret between Amar and Niren.

“We have no idea what Amar and Niren bhai are planning or plotting, but now these two will really thrive. Till now, they were experimenting. Now that they know, they will be confident to explore many things in the universe,” he said.