Stree 2 actor’s statement on being removed from ‘Agneepath’ – ‘Karan Johar did not remove me, I was 20-23 years old then’

Mumbai. Abhishek Banerjee is very happy with the response his two releases ‘Stree 2’ and ‘Veda’ are getting in theatres. But during the promotion of ‘Stree 2’, he made a statement at an event, due to which he got embroiled in controversies. Recently, Abhishek had said in an interview that Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions had closed its doors for him and his colleague Anmol Ahuja, because they were not able to align with Karan Malhotra’s vision during the casting of Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra starrer film ‘Agneepath’.

Abhishek Banerjee released a statement on his Insta story and said that his statement was taken out of context. He wrote, “This week I had to face two releases and a controversy. I have been reading and hearing a lot of reports about my company Casting Bay being allegedly fired by Dharma Productions during the casting process of ‘Agneepath’. Unfortunately, it has been misrepresented.”

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Abhishek Banerjee further explained that he was removed from the project because he could not align with director Karan Malhotra’s vision for ‘Agneepath’. He said, “I also stressed that Anmol and I were around 20 to 23 years old at that time. We had no experience of casting for a big commercial film, due to which we probably misunderstood Malhotra’s requirements for the project.”

Abhishek Banerjee further said, “I have not accused Dharma Productions or suggested any wrongdoing. In fact, I have great respect for Dharma Productions and Karan Johar.” He said in his statement that he never named Karan Johar in connection with his ouster, yet some reports falsely claimed that he was the one who fired me. The decision was actually taken by Karan’s team, and Abhishek and his colleague admitted their mistakes.

Abhishek Banerjee did these films with Dharma Productions

Abhishek Banerjee further said, “I have shared this story to encourage the youth that even if you fail or face an obstacle, you can always come back, as we did. We have worked with Dharma on many projects, including ‘OK Jaanu’, ‘Student of the Year 2’, ‘Kalank’ and the recently released ‘Kill’ and ‘Gyaarah Gyaar’. Apart from this, Dharma also cast me as an actor in ‘Ajeeb Dastaan’. Dharma has always been very good to me and my company Casting Bay. This is a relationship that we value.”

Tags: Bollywood actors, karan johar