3 years of Stree: Rajkummar suggested using Jaana's ‘cute smile’ reveals Abhishek Banerjee

Amar Kaushik's 2013 film Stree revolutionized the horror-comedy genre in Bollywood with its 'subtle' depiction of crimes against women in the rural parts of the country. Featuring an ensemble of the talented cast with the likes of Rajkummar Rao, Aparshakti Khurana, Shraddha Kapoor and Abhishek Banerjee, the movie clocked in 3 years on August 31. On the occasion, Abhishek revealed an interesting trivia about his character, Jaana, which went on to became a trademark.

Abhishek Banerjee in 'Stree'

Directed by Amar Kaushik, the 36-year-old played the role of Jaana, Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) and Bittu's (Aparshakti Khurana) best friend, who plays the catalyst in the events of finding the truth behind the ghost of Chanderi. Although he did not play the lead role in the film, Banerjee charmed his way into the hearts of the viewers through his innocence reflected in his smile. The 'cute smile' went on to become a trademark for Jaana in the movie. However, there is an interesting story behind his smile and actor Rajkummar Rao played a huge role in it.

Rajkummar Rao's suggestion

To mark three years of Stree, Abhishek Banerjee had an exclusive chat with Republic World, where he revealed interesting trivia about the film. The actor revealed that his famous 'innocent smile' was not planned and was totally spontaneous and he was encouraged by Rajkummar Rao to continue using it. He stated,

''Jaana's famous 'cute smile' became the talk of the movie to which everyone would say 'Jaana kitna cute smile karta hai'. I did not even know that my smile was cute. I never noticed that I have dimples. I also did not know how innocent I look while smiling. So, after the scene where I smile and say 'Vicky please!', Raj (Rajukummar Rao) told me ''Bhai tu na ek kaam kar, yeh smile na pure film me rakh! (Do one thing, keep this smile throughout the movie). You should smile like this."

This led the actor to maintain his innocent smile throughout the movie. He continued, ''And that is when I actually started using that in the character. I had no prior plans for it as I did not know my smile would work like that.''

(IMAGE- ABHISHEK BANERJEE IG)