It was quite difficult: Abhishek on playing a scared simpleton in Stree

Abhishek Banerjee as the simpleton, good friend and mamma’s boy Jaana in Amar Kaushik’s Stree did connect with the audience. Reacting to the response the film and the character have been getting, the actor and casting director say that films like Stree are rare.

“I love the fact that the audience is connecting with the politics of the film,” he says, adding that he is super happy that the Bollywood venture has crossed the 100 crore mark quite early at the box office.

According to Abhishek, playing such a character and that too in a genre like horrorcomedy was not a piece of cake. “It was quite difficult and I always took it as a challenge. There is a very thin line between showing fear, extra fear and exaggerated fear. So balancing was important. I had to [make sure] that it never looks too much. I used to keep asking Amar Kaushik to stop me, if I am doing something extra, too much,” he says, adding, “We’ve never taken ghost films seriously; plus this is like a folklore,” says the actor.

When he came to know about his character, Abhishek says that he loved it, because of the kind of person Jaana is. “When I first read the character, I felt he is like a Bengali boy... a total mamma’s boy. In most Bengali households, the son is pampered and daughters are brought up more independently. My childhood was reference for Jaana’s character. I actually went back home [in West Bengal] to just to stay with my parents for a few days and get those vibes again. [Jaana] has brains, but he isn’t street smart,” says Abhishek, who will next be seen in two web series and a film, Devashish Makhija’s Bhonsle.

PHOTO: RAAJESSH KASHYAP/HT Abhishek Banerjee