“I want people to remember me as a performer always.”
Mainak Banerjee
Childhood and Family Life
Born on 11th August in North Kolkata, the Bengali actor Mainak Banerjee has always been a back bencher in his school and college. He had grown up in a nuclear family where his dad was a Banker, and his mom was a housewife. He has a younger brother who is 5 years younger than him, and now runs his own start-up of digital marketing.
Growing up, he was an extremely notorious kid. His parents had a hard time managing him. Whenever his dad found out about any infamous incident that has been done by Mainak, he used to rebuke him up-right a lot. Nevertheless, Mainak and his notorious gang didn’t change. It was during his school days when he was in class 8 or 9 that they bunked school and went to watch films by Mithun Chakraborty, Akshay Kumar, and Salman Khan. But, he was caught by his dad and his father used to scolded Mainak a lot.
Mainak and his career of acting
Mainak never thought of becoming an actor in his childhood. He was a very good soccer player since his childhood, and always had a dream of becoming a soccer player growing up. His passion for photography developed as he grew up. He used to travel a lot with his parents during that time and hence thought of becoming a Wildlife Photographer. When he was young, he used to take part in different dramas in local cultural programs. This is how his interest grew in acting and slowly he started loving it. It was after his graduation when his friends were going for higher studies with MBA or Chartered Accountancy, he took the difficult decision of continuing his career as an actor. It was not a smooth path for him. To sharpen his skill, he thought of practicing and getting engaged in theatres. It was then that he got associated with the Institute of Factual Theatre Arts (IFTA) which was founded by Debasish Dutta with the mission of encouragement of new talents in theatre. IFTA is now known as TheaApex, and is considered to be one of the biggest Theatre Associations in Kolkata, and they have their own indoor stage, indoor café, practice room, and many things altogether.
Mainak’s first exposure was as a model in a popular Bengali Youth Magazine ‘Unish Kuri’. It was after this magazine assignment that he was called for a small character in a thriller TV Series known as ‘Police Files’ for an entertainment channel in 2003. His on-screen presence and acting skills were praised a lot. But despite all of the praise he received, he was out of work, and there was a void in his career. The few offers he was getting were for junior artists, which didn’t feel right. Eventually, he returned to the theatre to hone his acting skills. He was eventually offered the role of the lead in a feature film after a few years. But, unfortunately, the film was shelved just 10 days before the shoot. This made him extremely depressed and sad.
After a few days, he got a call from a very famous television producer and director Ravi Ojha, to an audition for a very small character in one scene. It was in one of his daily soaps on a very reputed entertainment channel. Mainak was not much sure about whether to accept the offer as the role was very small. But, after giving it much thought he went for it mainly because of Ravi Ojha. He gave it a shot and was selected. This small character and incident have made him noticeable. The director of the show – Mr. Rabin Nambiar liked his profile and his acting. He asked Mainak to stay connected. But, even after such a good break, Mainak was again jobless for a few days. Then after a month or two, the same director called him and gave him a big break in a daily soap as a lead artist on a very popular entertainment channel. While doing this daily soap, he got his first big break as an actor for a feature film ‘Amar Sangi’. After this incident, he never had to look back. Some of his very popular movies and web series till date are ‘Barood’, ‘Borbad’, ‘Nilanjana’, ‘Nayikar Moto’, ‘Cartoon’, ‘Baba Baby O’, and many more. He was extremely praised in his movie ‘Borbad’, where he played a character of an antagonist but was praised more than the protagonist. His act for ‘ Baba Baby O’ and ‘ Cartoon’ were also got praised.
His toughest times in life
His difficult time in life was obviously his decision to be an actor. His family was very supportive but was also very tense about it. When he was not having any work and was at home, his dad and mom used to ask him to look for a permanent job if possible. But they never stopped him from acting. Being the elder son of a middle-class family, where his dad has already retired, it was a matter to get tensed for. But, his toughest time was obviously when his father was detected with cancer suddenly. He has done everything for his check-up. His dad survived for 10 more years after he was detected with cancer. The absence of his dad in his life has made him realise how important it is to have elders with you to guide you at every step. For him, his dad was always a great advisor who taught him to be patient, handle work diligently, and never to shun responsibilities.
His motto in life
Mainak’s dream in life is to be a good artist and not only a good actor. He wants people to remember him for his performance even when he is not in this world. He is a peace-loving guy, and his motto in life is to never harm anyone and help people when they need your help. He spends more and more time with his family and friends when he is not working.
His tips to upcoming actors
He always believes that whatever your work is you have to love it from the core of your heart. For the upcoming young actors, he has advised them not to take any shortcuts. The shortcut ways will never give any good result in the long run. It is very important to nurture your talent, and learning is a must. It is very important to keep yourself updated, and every day learning about different things helps a lot.
