Anurag Kashyap lauds Abhishek Banerjee’s journey from Rang De Basanti to Paatal Lok: ‘Who knew where train would halt in 14 years’

Anurag Kashyap is impressed by Abhishek Banerjee’s journey in the last 14 years, from Rang De Basanti to his recent release Paatal Lok.

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is proud of actor Abhishek Banerjee’s journey. He shared a photo of Abhishek from 2006 movie Rang De Basanti, in which the actor had a very small but hilarious role.

Abhishek Banerjee has given memorable performances in films such as Bala, Stree and most recently, the web series Paatal Lok.

Retweeting another user’s tweet, Anurag wrote, “This was in 2006. He grew up to become Hathoda Tyagi in 2020. No one could have guessed which station this train would halt at in 14 years.” Abhishek plays the murderous Vishal Tyagi aka Hathoda Tyagi in Amazon Prime Video’s hit new show, Paatal Lok. His menacing role and extraordinary performance made him an instant hit with the audience.

Before Paatal Lok, Abhishek was also seen in Stree as the cowardly friend of Rajkummar Rao who gets possessed by a ghost. He also played the sassy barber and friend of Ayushmann Khurrana in Bala. He was also one of the students who auditioned for the role of Bhagat Singh in a scene from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s 2006 hit Rang De Basanti. Abhishek is also a casting director and screenwriter. He worked as a casting director on Paatal Lok as well.

Talking about being a part of Paatal Lok, the biggest compliment for Abhishek is how “the women in his life” refuse to watch Paatal Lok. “I think that it is the ultimate compliment because the show has turned out as scary as we wanted to make it,” Abhishek said. He said the character’s lack of dialogues made it a difficult part to audition for.

Sudip Sharma, the show’s creator, was familiar with his performance in indie film Ajji and felt he suited the role. Abhishek said it was not difficult to understand the motivation of his character, whose intensity helped the actor channelise some of his own angst.

“I come from a protected family so it is hard for me to understand what makes someone a brutal killer. But I realised that this character was an achiever and he was thwarted. He was living the life of a champion but his father was not because of the feudal system that still exists in India. This rejection from the system and society broke him,” he said.

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