Exclusive! Abhishek Banerjee on film with Anand Deverakonda and being stereotyped as a Hindi film actor

Actor Abhishek Banerjee had quite a year in 2021 with four back-to-back releases in Ajeeb Daastaans, Helmet, Ankahi Kahaniya and Rashmi Rocket. Meanwhile, Anand Deverakonda’s Pushpaka Vimamam has started streaming on aha. The two are soon set to collaborate for a movie which will mark Abhishek’s debut in the Telugu film industry. The film is called Highway and is directed by KV Guhan.

While speaking to OTTplay, the actor revealed about the stereotype that he experienced while working on the film. Abhishek spoke about how the makers were surprised to see him, a Bengali from the Hindi film industry (B-Town) talk in Telugu. Abhishek absolutely refused to dub for the movie and is shooting for the movie in the language - Telugu.

Ask the actor if he had to learn Telugu from scratch and he says, “I understand, speak and write Tamil. I didn't know Telugu but could understand the tonality. The words are something that I could roll on my tongue. So I could adapt to Telugu because of my background.”

Further probe him if there will be no dubbing but him actually talking in Telugu and Abhishek clarifies, “I am. In fact I told the makers the same thing. My first day on the sets, they did not give me a script. When I asked them, they told me that they will get it dubbed. I refused to do that. I told them that I would memorize the lines and say. They were still not very sure but as soon as I gave my first scene, I saw their faces lighting up. They were really surprised that me, a Bengali who speaks in Hindi, was talking in Telugu. I had to explain to them that I love languages.”

Talking about being stereotyped as a Bollywood actor, Abhishek added, “It was really important for me to talk in that language. I don't want to be stereotyped as a Bollywood actor. Firstly, I don't like the term Bollywood itself. It's borrowed from the West. I work in the Indian film industry. Even if you look at the West, Robert DeNiro spoke in Italian in Godfather. They are changing the continent. If they can do that, then why can't we experiment with our country's language and culture? I wanted to remove the barrier from my name.”

Giving an update about his Telugu debut with Anand Deverakonda, the actor said, “It is awesome. I'm really happy to shoot a Telugu movie. I'm a huge sucker for South Indian food. That's a good thing for me.”

He spoke about the process and said, “Of course, the process is very different. They are very quick with their technical department. So it is fun for me. I'm working with a good set of people. Venkatesh sir and of course, Anand. It is an edge-of-your-seat thriller. People might have seen me but they could be really scared after seeing this film. The story excited me a lot.”

“Many people told me that actors take up South projects when their career is dipping. I kept wondering what they were thinking. Look at Sarpatta, Baahubali, RRR. They are creating such great films so why should I limit myself?,” he asked while talking about making his debut in the South Indian film industry.

Did Abhishek meet Vijay Deverakonda on sets, since he too is an actor-producer and Anand’s big brother? Abhishek shares, “Not yet. I'm pretty sure he's busy with his life. Anand is a very sweet person. We discussed food. He tells me about the different kinds of biryanis. One night, he came on set on my second day just because I was shooting. He came to see and meet me. Who does that? I would wonder where he gets all the sweetness from. It was amazing.”