Abhishek Banerjee on Stree 2 and Vedaa's box-office performances: It's a bittersweet experience

Abhishek Banerjee had double the reason to celebrate this Independence Day as two of his films, Stree 2 and Vedaa, released on the same day. While Stree 2 went on to become a humongous blockbuster, Vedaa faltered at the box office. Talking about the clash, the actor says, “It’s a bittersweet experience for me right now.”

Adding further, Abhishek says, “Vedaa is a great film and whoever is watching it, they love it. The opening day was good, and we got great reviews. But now what can we do? I am also learning, and the producers would have made their calculations, but it didn’t work out that way. Yet Vedaa is still sustaining and not really washed out as some people thought. So, I have not really lost hope. Stree 2 has brought people back to theatres and that’s important. Now, they would want more, and they might come to see Vedaa, which is already happening at quite a few places.”

Coming to Stree 2, the 39-year-old admits that the film’s level of success did come as a surprise. “While we expected the film to do well, nobody expected it to cross ₹50 crore on day one. It’s madness. But what’s more gladdening is when people are saying that it’s like a festival in theatres. People are lining up in queues even in urban centres. We always heard of such things happening in films of (actor) Amitabh Bachchan, and last year with (actor) Shah Rukh Khan’s films and now it’s happening for us. It feels special,” he says.

Even with the individual praise coming his way, the actor feels great. “As an actor, you want to be recognised and appreciated for your performances, but somewhere you get lost. However, throughout my career, I have been credited for my performances, just this time, baat badi ban gayi. There is a section of the public who have suddenly woken up to me. The problem that I had earlier was that my characters’ names were getting registered more than my own, but that has been successfully taken care of,” he insists.

Abhishek also recalls getting to dance with his director Amar Kaushik in the song Aaj Ki Raat. “It’s a tradition that Amar has to dance in his films. It happened with Stree and Bala, and now with Stree 2. But he stole my thunder,” he jokes, adding, “I am just happy that I have got a chance to work with him in all his films and I hope it continues. Amar might look humble, but he is a genius making this entire horror universe. Such directors should be safeguarded and given everything they require.”

So, will we see him in a larger capacity and not just cameos in the other upcoming films of the horror universe? “I think Jana is one of the connectors for the whole universe. He is designed to be haunted and troubled by all these supernatural monsters,” he says, giving an update about the future: “Stree 3 ki thodi bahut writing ho chuki hai and they will probably start writing Bhediya 2 soon.”

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