'It was like a fatwa issued against me': Vivek Oberoi on career lull
Mumbai: Vivek Oberoi was the star kid to watch out for after he made a grand entry into Bollywood with Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Company’, winning awards as well commercial success. He followed it up with Yash Raj’s superhit ‘Saathiya’ opposite Rani Mukerji and people thought the film industry got a much needed young superstar.
However, Vivek soon became a villain when held a press conference in 2003 claiming that Salman Khan threatened him over his affair with the latter’s ex and his then girlfriend Aishwarya Rai.
Since then, despite occasional hits like ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’, ‘Grand Masti’, ‘Krrish 3’ or the recent Tamil film ‘Vivegam’, Vivek could never reach the level he attained at the start of his career and periods of lulls were too many.
His infamous press conference is often termed as the reason for Vivek’s career lull at that time, almost as if people were asked not to work with him. The actor opened about the period in an interview to Mumbai Mirror, saying, “It was like a fatwa issued against me from the powers that be.”
He added, “Even if I gave a hit, work wouldn't follow. Shootout at Lokhandwala became a huge hit but I sat at home for a year after that.“
His refusal of films like ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, ‘Om Shanti Om’ and ‘Hum Tum’, which eventually went on to become hits, didn’t help matters. The actor clarified that he was not offered ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ and he turned down ‘Om Shanti Om’ because he “didn't want to play a negative character again" after ‘Shoout at Lokhandwala.’
About the Saif Ali Khan-Rani Mukerji starrer, he said, “Hum Tum was offered to me on the exact same day that I was supposed to begin shooting for Kisna which was delayed since I had an accident during Yuva. Some things were just not meant to be.“
The actor admits this particular phase was not easy for him. He said, “When my personal life got messed up, I couldn't keep my eye on the ball."
Vivek plans to turn producer with ‘Company 2’ and also star in ‘Rai’, both with Ram Gopal Verma, and it seems that actor is yet again banking on the filmmaker to take him back to his ‘Company’ stardom.
