Abhishek Banerjee starrer Stolen recently received a positive response when it was recently premiered at the ongoing Venice Film Festival. Directed by the debutant Karan Tejpal, the movie is a thriller that also stars Harish Khanna and Mia Maelzer.
In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Banerjee shared his reaction saying, “I feel we got a very good response because the media and critics have been really kind; they have been writing good things about us. I think to be accepted on an international platform, where the best films in the world are competing and to compete against them and be in the competition is a dream come true for any artiste. Every artiste needs a bigger platform to their art. So, I will always be thankful to the organizing committee and the jury every associated with the festival for hosting us and believing in Stolen.”
Banerjee said that right now he is not at a liberty to talk about the plot or subject of Stolen as its release date in India is yet to be announced. “Usually, speaking about such stories is better when they are near release, so that the audience gets excited about watching it. So, I don’t want to cut their excitement. But let me tell you that Stolen, though it’s an independent film and people associate indie films to be more arty and preachy, but this is a very, very edge-of-the-seat gritty thriller,” he said.
The actor also said that the film gives a lot of importance to today’s reality. “You will enjoy whether you are watching it at home or theatre, but I would feel this film is definitely for the theatres. We are just showing an incident and that incident really becomes chaotic and it shows the reality, which we don’t want to see in our cinema,” said Banerjee.
Banerjee’s first look from the film, which was recently out, showed his face battered and bruised. Although he said he can’t reveal much about the character right now, he said, “Let me just tell you that it’s a character which I have not really played or attempted in the short span of my career. It’s very, very special for me because it taught me a lot about privilege psyche. My character Gautam Bansal is definitely a privileged character who probably understands a lot of things about our society.”
The film’s director Karan Tejpal has previously assisted in light-hearted commercial entertainers like Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 3 Idiots and Ferrari Ki Sawaari. But he chose to make an indie film like Stolen as his directorial debut. “Karan is a ball of fire,” said Banerjee. “He is really a magnificent thinking mind. He had a vision and he came to me two years before during or after COVID. He wanted to cast someone else, but the other actor backed out. Then the film was stalled for some time. But he really believed in the film, and I always believe in directors who are very clear and they have a vision which is, probably, not a cliched vision of mainstream. I enjoy experimenting and challenging myself and that is what I did through Stolen.”
Banerjee believes that Tejpal is different from the filmmakers he has assisted. “KT, as I call him, is a director to lookout for. He is very new age and also a very entertaining director. His films in future, I can clearly see, are going to be very cool. He is going to break the boundaries of filmmaking in India. I know he has assisted Mr (Rajkumar) Hirani and also assisted in ad films, but he definitely has his own voice, which is not so similar to the directors he has worked with or he has explored his time with,” he said.
Banerjee was recently seen playing the pivotal character of Shahrukh in Raaj Shaandilyaa’s Dream Girl 2, which starred Ayushmann Khurrana in the lead. The film became a box office success.
The post EXCLUSIVE: “Stolen shows the reality that we don’t want to see in our cinema,” reveals Abhishek Banerjee after the film’s premiere in Venice appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
from Bollywood Hungama https://ift.tt/7QHkNJG
