Abhishek Banerjee Shares Imtiaz Ali’s Valuable Advice for Side Heroes: “Don’t Try To Become a Hero”

Abhishek Banerjee Shares Imtiaz Ali’s Valuable Advice for Side Heroes: The actor and casting director Abhishek Banerjee, seen in the acclaimed Stree franchise films, is not afraid to speak about the unusual piece of advice he got from the Main Vaapas Aaunga director Imtiaz Ali during their collaboration on the upcoming movie ‘Side Heroes‘.

Abhishek Banerjee Speaks About Movie ‘Side Heroes’

Being known for giving remarkable performances in movies such as Stree, Bhediya, and Dream Girl, Abhishek Banerjee has plenty of projects scheduled for release in 2026. Apart from Mirzapur The Movie and Lust Stories 3, Banerjee is going to be the leading actor of Side Heroes—a movie made and mentored by Imtiaz Ali.

Commenting on the film, Banerjee shared how impressed he was to learn that Aparshakti Khurana and Varun Sharma joined the cast too. The movie also had another title before the production team opted for Side Heroes.

Advice from Imtiaz Ali: “Don’t Try to Be a Hero”

Recently, Abhishek Banerjee mentioned the most memorable piece of advice he was given by Imtiaz Ali.

According to the actor, Ali simply told him, “Don’t try to become a hero.”

According to Banerjee, the line perfectly summarizes the movie. The film doesn’t glorify just one protagonist but gives equal importance to all characters, thereby confirming the fact that each person has a story worth sharing.

The actor said that this concept embodies the very idea behind the film wherein there is not even a single hero depicted in a traditional manner.

Abhishek Banerjee Refuses the Title “Side Actor”

Furthermore, Banerjee said that he feels bad about the term “side actor” and called upon the entertainment industry and media to avoid using it.

He thinks that actors should not be classified according to their screen positioning since all roles are important for the story. He intimated that viewers might be shocked to find out the real story behind the film.

Message for Upcoming Actors

Based on his experience as a casting director, Banerjee advises newbies to refrain from emulating commercial heroes. Instead, he encourages actors to concentrate on themselves.

He emphasized the need for theater-trained artists to rely on their acting abilities instead of imitating mainstream methods. He believed that creating one’s own identity is much more important than attempting to conform to any existing mold.

Side Heroes Release Date

Directed by Ssanjay Tripaathy and written by Siddharth Sen and Pankaj Matta, the movie ‘Side Heroes’ is produced by Imtiaz Ali, Mahaveer Jain, Reeyan M. Shah, and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. Even though the movie was earlier supposed to be released in August 2026, there has been no official announcement of its release date till now.

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