Abhishek Banerjee is on his way to fulfilling his dreams, one of them being working alongside his idol, Amitabh Bachchan. But the journey, hailing from Delhi, coming to Mumbai, and then hustling, was not easy.

For the 38-year-old, who has been a part of films such as Stree (2018), and had a breakthrough playing Hathoda Tyagi in the series Paatal Lok (2020), making it in films was extremely hard, when he started dreaming about it. “Sapna hi lagta tha, it was not really organized in the industry, there was no casting department. It used to be luck, ki lottery lag gayi. You could have gotten through, if you know people. It took me eight long years of working in casting. I was someone around the director, and had the power to cast actors but I could not cast myself. To gain the confidence that I can act too, took me some years. Again, to believe that I am a good actor, it will take me another couple of years,” says Banerjee.

Rejections are a given in the early phases of one’s career, and Banerjee faced it too. “Bahut baar hota hai,” he says, “Comments are also made on one’s looks. Pehle ki soch thi ki actor gora chitta hona chahiye, ladka ho ya ladki. It becomes more important than characters in the films. For me, acting is always about being close to human life. It should not be aspirational or out of reach, only then you will relate to the character more,” he shares.

The actor is the first generation in his family to make a career in films. “To reach here, in this amount of time is great because I also have proof for newcomers, that if you are really talented, and willing to work hard, keep yourself mentally and physically strong... this industry is draining, you will get rejections. You feel bad at life itself, but you have to stand on your feet in this difficult place and make your way through,” he gets candid.