Stree 2 star Abhishek Banerjee strongly reacts to influencers being cast over actors; 'The problem is...'

Abhishek Banerjee is receiving praise for his performances in two recently released movies, Stree 2 and Vedaa, both of which hit theatres on August 15. In Stree 2, Abhishek plays Jana, a character that has left audiences laughing. In Vedaa, he portrays the villain, showcasing a much darker side. Besides being a talented actor, Abhishek is also a casting director.

Abhishek Banerjee runs a casting company called Casting Bay. In a recent interview, he spoke about the growing trend of influencers being chosen for roles over actors because of their large Instagram followings. During a conversation with Sucharita Tyagi, Abhishek shared that this is something he deals with both as a casting director and an actor. He believes that this practice needs to change. Abhishek explained that the problem isn't influencers becoming actors; it's when casting decisions are based solely on social media followers. The Paatal Lok actor mentioned that even if three actors are equally good, choosing one over the others just because they have more followers is a serious issue. Banerjee warned that if the industry continues down this path, it may be too late to correct it.

Further in this piece of entertainment news, Abhishek Banerjee also pointed out that having a large number of followers might attract viewers to the first episode of a show, but it won't keep them watching for nine hours. The Bhediya actor questioned how many followers actually translate into ticket sales, mentioning that even though many people have more followers than Shah Rukh Khan, there isn't a bigger star than him. He believes that these comparisons based on followers don't make sense.

Watch a video of Abhishek Banerjee

As a casting director, Abhishek's main focus is on the talent of the actor, not their popularity on social media. He said that it's the producer's job to consider popularity, but as a casting director, he chooses actors based on their skills, not their social media presence. Meanwhile, Stree 2 also stars Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, and Aparshakti Khurana. On the other hand, Vedaa also features John Abraham and Sharvari.