Vivek Oberoi, son of popular Bollywood star, Suresh Oberoi, rose to prominence with his very first film. Despite being the son of a famous film star, he chose to pave his own way in the glamour industry. The actor received much appreciation for his stint in the 2002 Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) film, Company. In the same year, he acted in another RGV film, Road, and then went on to star alongside Rani Mukerji in the romantic movie, Saathiya. Recently, Vivek talked about the obstacles that came his way while he was filming his first YRF film.
In a conversation with the Humans of Bombay, Vivek shared everything from his debut in Bollywood, unexpected stardom, to adversities he faced during his journey. During the interaction, he recalled how his mentor, RGV warned him against doing Saathiya. Vivek mentioned that everyone around him said that he was an action hero and that a love story wouldn’t suit his character. He said:
“Everybody said don’t, so Saathiya. ‘You are an action hero. How can you do a love story? Put some action scenes into it, put some big fight in the climax’ But that wasn’t the film. My mentor, Ram Gopal Varma, was furious. He said ‘No, don’t do this film.’ I was like better than taking permission, I will ask for forgiveness. I loved the film. Shaad Ali is a school friend. He was making this film with Abhishek Bachchan, but that didn’t work out. I already had my debut film, Company.”
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While interacting, Vivek shared that one day, his friend and the director of Saathiya, Shaad Ali, called him up and asked him to come to his home. The actor said that Shaad asked him to work on his film, Saathiya but he straight up denied it because he was already working on RGV’s film, Company. The actor further narrated that his friend then said that he did not have to do the film, but at least he could watch Mani Ratnam’s Alaipayuthey, on which Saathiya was based.
Vivek revealed that by the end of the film, he was bawling. He mentioned that he got so emotional after watching Alaipayuthey that he could not talk, and he choked. And that is when he said to the Saathiya’s director that he was going to do the film, come what may. Vivek said:
“I watched it, and I am bawling at the end of it, sitting in Shaadu’s house. I am crying, I'm emotional, I can't talk, I'm choked with the emotion of the film. I said I don't know how I going to do it, but I have to do this film.”
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Further recalling the hardships he faced during filming Saathiya, Vivek revealed that he used to sleep on benches at railway stations, and changed clothes in restaurant toilets due to a lack of sufficient budget. He mentioned that they used to shoot for 18-20 hours a day and completed shooting four scenes in a day. He also recalled carrying equipment. Vivek added:
“When I was shooting for Saathiya, Company hadn’t released. I was shooting on railway stations, I used to be sleeping on the benches because we had no budget. I used to change clothes in restaurant toilets because I didn’t have a makeup van. We had to shoot four scenes in a day. We were shooting for 18-20 hours a day. There was a time when I was carrying equipment, I had gone back to my assistant days after my debut.”
Vivek also shared that when Rani Mukerji used to come on the set, there used to be tight security for the actress. However, when they were shooting after his debut film, Company was released, people started to recognise him while they were filming on the railway tracks. Vivek said that out of nowhere, a sea of people flocked together to get a glimpse of him. He mentioned that it was the same moment he realised that he had become a star. He said:
“We're shooting on a Sunday the Sunday happens to be Sunday after Company released, Company released on Friday. It's at 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. we're shooting suddenly few people start to come they start to recognise they don't know my name yet they start calling me Chandu, so I'm kind of getting a kick out of it suddenly before I knew it by lunchtime there were 2,000 people screaming ‘Chandu Bhai’. Shaad grabbed me like this and put me into the one makeup van shut me inside and then suddenly cops are coming. Shaad comes in he pulls me he says come out, I want you to see this I come out, and there's literally like a sea of people screaming my name shouting screaming Chandu’s name, shouting and he looked at me, and that was my moment of realisation.”
What do you think of Vivek Oberoi’s revelations about his struggling days and his film, Saathiya? Let us know.
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