Actor Abhishek Banerjee has reflected on changing relationship dynamics, saying younger people today appear more comfortable with being alone and prioritising their own happiness.
Speaking during the promotion of his recently released anthology Lust Stories 3, Abhishek said the younger generation is increasingly comfortable spending time by itself and enjoying its own company.
“They’re very comfortable being alone. They’re comfortable playing games all alone. They’re happy with themselves, and they love themselves more than probably we did when we were young. So it’s a good thing,” he said.
Abhishek also questioned the idea that marriage and having children are inherently part of human evolution. He argued that the familiar life cycle of marriage, children, schooling, employment and eventually arranging marriages for the next generation developed alongside social and economic changes.
“It’s a concept that someone must have brought up that you meet someone, have to get married, have to have kids, have to send them to school, have to get a job, and then have to get the kids married. I don’t think it is a part of evolution; rather, it is a part of the industrial revolution,” he said.
Describing the traditional model as a “forced concept”, Abhishek said it was not necessarily something inherently built into human behaviour.
The actor also said several of his friends have consciously chosen not to have children, suggesting that such choices are becoming more visible. He further pointed to what he described as an increase in divorce rates in India, calling the trend “a good sign in the society”.
On the professional front, Abhishek features in Lust Stories 3, an anthology comprising four segments directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, Shakun Batra and Vishal Bhardwaj.
The ensemble cast includes Radhika Apte, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vijay Varma, Abhishek Banerjee, Gurfateh Pirzada, Sana Thampi, Ali Fazal, Radhika Madan, Aditi Rao Hydari and Siddharth. The anthology premiered on Netflix on September 18.