Stree 2 Actor Abhishek Banerjee Calls Director Amar Kaushik A 'Bully': He Can Insult You Very Badly

Stree 2: The Rajkummar Rao-Shraddha Kapoor starrer hit the big screens on August 15 and has been drawing the audience to houseful theatres ever since. The horror comedy movie features Abhishek Banerjee in the role of Jana, a friend of protagonist Vicky. Days after the release of the film, the actor spills beans on the environment on the set of the film and the equation he shares with his co-actors.

Stree 2 actor Abhishek Banerjee talks about his equation with co-stars 

If there’s any other set, one will think twice before insulting their co-actor, but when you’re working on a film like Stree 2, things can get really “ruthless”, says actor Abhishek Banerjee. Besides scares and laughs, it’s the on-screen camaraderie among the cast, also starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi and Aparshakti Khurana, that forms the bedrock of this latest film in Maddock Films’ horror comedy universe. Directed by Amar Kaushik and written by Niren Bhatt, Stree 2 has grossed over Rs 600 crore in India since its August 15 release.

Banerjee, who reprised his role of the amiable fool Jana, said the actors have the “freedom” to improvise on set. “What works for us is that we can be very ruthless towards each other and we can really make fun of each other. We can really laugh at the co-actor because they have improvised badly and it’s not funny. Usually, you don’t do that on a film set, you will think twice before insulting your co-actor, but we don’t. When you are so naked in front of your co-actors, that’s when the best lines come,” the actor told PTI in an interview. But they don’t take this freedom for granted, he said, adding they “maintain the decorum” no matter how much the film’s writer says they just keep going at it.

Abhishek Banerjee calls Stree 2 director Amar Kaushik a ‘bully from Kanpur’ 

Banerjee said Kaushik, who made his directorial debut with 2018’s Stree, is part of the league. “Amar bhai is a bully from Kanpur, no matter how much he pretends to be this distinguished gentleman,” he quipped. “He has that Kanpuriya vibe in him. He can insult you very badly about your humour, acting. He could be like ‘Abey, kya kar raha hai ye? Ye kahan se seekh ke aaya hai.’ So, you’re always on your toes. And, Pankaj ji, I don’t think he needs to do anything. He’s somebody who can make thin air funny. Sometimes I’m just laughing by looking at the things he does,” he added. The actor said the cast is a bunch of actors who are “very secure”.

“And even if we are insecure, we say everything out loud. Like, I would do that a lot on song shoots and say ‘Mujhe centre frame chahiye’ (I want to be centre frame) just to irritate my co-actors.” With the success of “Stree 2”, Banerjee said he is happy to be part of Hindi cinema annals. He believes all those years of rejection are finally behind him.

(With inputs from PTI)