Abhishek Banerjee issues clarification after saying he was fired from ‘Agneepath’ by Karan Johar’s Dharma

Abhishek Banerjee Pic/Instagram

Seasoned actor and casting director Abhishek Banerjee, who is basking in the success of his two releases - ‘Stree 2' and ‘Vedaa' courted controversy for a recent statement he made about his time on ‘Agneepath' remake, backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. Abhishek said in an interview with Siddharth Kannan that Dharma shut their doors on him and his associate Anmol Ahuja after they couldn't align with the vision of Karan Malhotra during the casting of the film starring Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

The actor took to X and clarified that his statement was misconstrued. He wrote, "This week I have been blessed with two releases and one controversy. I've been reading and hearing a lot of reports about Dharma Productions supposedly firing my company, Casting Bay, during the casting process of ‘Agneepath'. Unfortunately, this situation has been completely misrepresented as accusatory on our part".

He further mentioned that they were dismissed from the project as they were unable to align with the vision of director Karan Malhotra for Agneepath.

He continued, "I also emphasised that Anmol and I were quite young at the time, around 20 to 23 years old, with little to no experience in casting for a major commercial film, which perhaps led to us misinterpreting Mr. Malhotra's requirements for the project. I have not accused or suggested any wrongdoing on the part of Dharma Productions. In fact, I have deep respect for Dharma Productions and Karan Johar".

The actor said in his statement that he never mentioned Karan Johar in relation to their dismissal, yet some reports falsely claim that he was the one who fired them. The decision was actually made by Karan's team, and Abhishek and his associate accepted their mistakes.

"I shared this story to encourage young people that even if you fail or hit a roadblock, you can always bounce back, as we did. We went on to work on several projects with Dharma, starting with ‘Ok Jaanu', ‘Student of the Year 2', ‘Kalank', and recent releases like, ‘Kill' and ‘Gyarah Gyarah'. Additionally, Dharma even cast me as an actor in ‘Ajeeb Daastaans'. Dharma has always been very good to me and to my company, Casting Bay. It is a relationship we value and nurture. PS: I am not putting this out for the hamper", he added.

Talking about Abhishek, he started his career with theatre work in New Delhi. He made his debut with ‘Rang De Basanti', starring Aamir Khan. He also worked in Knock Out as a casting director.

As a casting director, she has worked in movies such as ‘The Dirty Picture', ‘No One Killed Jessica', ‘Dear Dad', ‘Do Lafzon Ki Kahani', ‘Rock On 2', ‘Ok Jaanu', ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha', ‘Secret Superstar' and ‘Ajji'.

He has also acted in films such as ‘Phillauri', ‘Ajji', ‘Stree', ‘Bhediya', ‘Bala', ‘Arjun Patiala' and ‘Dream Girl'. He went on to showcase his prowess in the digital space with shows including ‘Mirzapur', ‘Typewriter' and ‘Pataal Lok'.

(With inputs from Agencies)