NDTV Exclusive: Abhishek Banerjee Decodes Stolen Success, Says "It's Almost Like The Film Did Rs 100 Crores In Three Days In Theatres"

NDTV

20 hours ago

New Delhi:
There's one belief that has always resonated across the film industry and ardent cinegoers - there are stars, and then there are actors.
What perhaps makes the current "star" in the spotlight an "actor" to celebrate is Abhishek Banerjee's stellar performance in the much-talked about survival drama Stolen, currently streaming on Prime Video.
The Karan Tejpal directorial has a pretty straightforward plot. But there's a very thin line that defines its genre more aptly as a commercial drama.
The story revolves around two brothers Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman (Shubham Vardhan), who get embroiled in a kidnapping case after a baby is 'stolen' from a railway station in a fictional state Ranrashtra, a sly reference to Rajasthan. The film then follows the brothers on a harrowing journey with the distraught mother Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer), who initially accuses Raman of stealing her baby. A driven Raman and a reluctant Gautam become a part of this investigation.
Abhishek Banerjee as Gautam is not an instantly likeable character. He comes across as a privileged and insensitive person from the upper echelon. He tries to steer clear of any thorny situation. As much as he tries to convince his brother Raman to stay out of it, circumstances just keep getting out of hand.
To discover the nitty gritty of acing a taut survival drama such as this, as an unlikeable character, and eventually having a change of heart, Abhishek Banerjee bares it all in an exclusive conversation with NDTV.
Does Having Four Powerhouse Filmmakers As Executive Producers Guarantee More Eyeballs?
Having acclaimed directors such as Anurag Kashyap, Kiran Rao, Nikkhil Advani and Vikramaditya Motwane bankroll an independent film like Stolen, can be one of the many attributes that may make people take notice of the film.
But why didn't they go for a theatrical release? Abhishek Banerjee believes the film getting a direct-to-digital release may have worked for Stolen.
He highlights that from a business perspective, it is just a wiser decision that everyone collectively took.
"But to have a film like this released in theatres, you need huge marketing support. It is only smart as a businessman to try and achieve the maximum number of audience watching your film. People are talking about the film because it's quicker and easier to watch on OTT. So maybe half the good reviews we are getting are because of the comfort. The response we have got is almost like the film doing 100 crores in three days in theatres. I mean, it is equivalent to a commercial massy film. It is great for the future business of cinema because it's made on a very low budget."
The film has travelled to many reputed film festivals such as the Venice Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, and Japan's Skip City International D-Cinema Festival. It was also screened at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival and the International Film Festival of Kerala.
But, is there assurance in the film doing well in theatres at the end of the day?
Abhishek Banerjee believes Stolen could have done solid business at the box office.
The actor says, "I have always been a believer in doing entertaining ones. I'm not somebody who will give time to a film that I feel as a viewer or as an actor is boring. I'm drawn to thrillers, action thrillers and psychological thrillers. I love it when there is some drama in it and not just human emotion, drama. Like a Namesake or a Lunchbox that are entertaining. I need that entertainment quotient in the film. And Stolen was just that. I truly believe that a film like Stolen can record box office numbers."
Empathising With A Seemingly Toxic Character
Abhishek Banerjee as Gautam is deeply disturbing on many levels. It is equally easy to get irritated with his demeanour for not being as sensitive as his brother Raman, who wants to help Jhumpa find her daughter Champa.
The actor shares, "Something really irritated me while doing it. Also, honestly, when I watch it (the film), I don't like myself. I feel I have not acted well. I'm not enjoying my own performance. And I don't know whether it is to do with my performance or whether it is to do with the character. That is something that has always troubled me."
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This is not the first time the actor has played a despicable character. After playing an amiable fool Jana in the Stree film franchise, Abhishek Banerjee caught everyone's attention as the resolute killer in Hathoda Tyagi from Paatal Lok season one. Then came 2023's Apurva, also a survival thriller which saw him turn into Sukha, his darkest role as an antagonist.
Explaining how that experience was vastly different from that in Stolen, the actor says, "With Apurva, it becomes a very different scenario because he's just playing this one-dimensional character. My character Sukha, is just an idiot. Now there is nothing much we can make idiots understand, can we?"
Film Poster
He elaborates, "I have no idea how to have a conversation with Sukha. Considering how he has no humane characteristics, I don't have any sort of empathy towards a character like that, when I think of it from my own perspective. So I feel nothing for him, I just did it because well, Apurva was a cool and well-made film."
Why Abhishek Banerjee Initially Wanted To Play The "Hero" Raman In Stolen
In multiple interviews, the actor has said that he initially wanted to play the character of Raman in the film, who was accused of kidnapping Jhumpa's daughter. He eventually ended up playing the character of Gautam, who he befittingly calls the "accidental-hero".
The actor says, "I always saw Gautam as a secondary character. The entire chunk of the film is completely based on Raman. He will be deciding the course of the film, and that's exactly what's happening. He's a catalyst."
Stolen ( 2025)
[ 3.75 / 5 ⭐ ]
A tense thrilling film with a powerful performance from Abhishek Banerjee.
It shows strong moral questions and realistic portrayals. The movie is less than 2 hours long and tells the story without any dragg !
WORTH !! #Stolen Prime pic.twitter.com/W1Y9ynuyN9
— Karthik (@Karthik79956315) June 8, 2025
Abhishek Banerjee adds, "So of course, for me, it was very difficult to let go of that. I love doing such parts. I love doing parts where I am not seen as a protagonist, but if you remove me from the film, the story will not work. When Gautam came to me, I had to change the way I was thinking and I remained like a supporting character for the longer part in the film. Till probably, he gets into trouble."
On Working With A Debutant Director And A New Cast
It takes trust and faith to believe in the craft of a debutant director, says Abhishek Banerjee.
"The immersive experience that Karan Tejpal wanted to create was what counted. He wanted the audience to be inside the car or the jail or the mob when it was happening. To witness that first-hand perspective was quite impressive. I just gave in after that, and when I saw the first cut I knew that we had something solid in hand. So after that, it was just a gut feeling," he adds.
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Abhishek Banerjee On How He Tackles The Trend Of Fake News On Social Media
In Stolen, the situation gets even more tense when Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman's (Shubham Vardhan) fabricated video circulating on social media, adds on to the fake narrative of the abduction.
The film begins with a false accusation, which results in a traumatic chase. But what keeps amplyfying the scenario is when the locals completely misinterpret the now viral video. They attack the two brothers, solely on what the video showcases and not by the what the accused had to say, which is often what leads to wrong judgements.
For Abhishek Banerjee, tackling an endless loop of fake news on social media comes with the profession.
Fake news affects us all, he says. "You have to sometimes really stop yourself from writing stuff. But now what you need to understand is that social media is not your drawing room. The world does not need to know everything. I see it like a rant, where some person is really aware of some current event and wants to talk about it. And then one thing leads to another, and you have everyone putting out information. They want that voice of that cause. I know 99% of them will not go on the streets and do the same thing. So that's why I don't react."
As the conversation comes to an end, Abhishek Banerjee jokes about where the characters Raman and Gautam in Stolen would head after they survived in the film.
He says, "Hopefully to their mother's wedding, there's going to be a lot of family drama."
Giving an update on his upcoming projects, he shared that he has Baaghi Bechare with Pratik Gandhi and Bharat Bala's Mahasangam, set against the backdrop of Mahakumbh.
He signs off, with a heart full of gratitude for letting Stolen own everyone's OTT screens.