TO HELL AND BACK
Vivek Oberoi may not have been the most admired person in the industry but he has been through his trails and has come out wiser..But what disarms Nishi Prem is the actor's willingness to look square at his own failings and make right of his wrongs.Preserve it boy,says Prem,it's a rare quality to find...
This interview has been overdue for almost two years but we let it pass each time because the actor had more serious issues on his mind.Vivek was unavailable to almost anything or anybody in those days.Perhaps not even to himself.Caught in the mesh of a chameleonic love affair,the actor was,in his own words,"in a spin".But all that's under the bridge and the Bachchans.The sun's up and shining in Vivek's courtyard,like the smile on his face
The clouds have passed....You look more at peace.
I am...It's like coming home after a long long time.
Shootout at Lokhandwala pulled you out of your exile.
Professionally,yes, you can say that.It's like a bright sunrise at the end of a very long,very dark night.It feels great to see the smile back on my family's face.The last few years haven't been easy on them either.I wasn't going through a good time and it was tough on them to see me struggle emotionally.Ofcourse,it feels good to be out there again and the people yelling "Maya Maya" or singing "Aye Ganpat"...but first and foremost,I'm happy to see the relief on my family's face
They were tough years both professionally and personally.
It was my fault.I strayed.I digressed from the reasons that I had come here for and got involved with other things.I forgot I had wanted to be an actor for the love of it,for the joy of acting.I was 24,a kid,when I first tasted success,and the film industry is like Maya Nagri,a mesmerising wonderland.It is so easy to get carried away,to get lured and distracted.It can take you way from the core of what you are and why you are here.I started lusting for and desiring all the wrong things and I did things that I am not proud of at all.I guess that's why they call it the trappings of success.It traps you in all the wrong things.
This time around,your experience with success is different.
It's alot calmer,it's not chaotic.Also this time,success is so much sweeter because,like I said,I am seeing success through the eyes of my parents.
There was Omkara inbetween,which you strangely failed to lay claim on or cash into.
Maybe I didn't cash in,in the materialistic sense of the term but I cashed in on Omkara in a way that nobody else can imagine.Omkara changed my life.I was not in the right frame of mind when I got Omkara.My personal life was in a mess,my professional life was gasping,my sense of self was at its lowest ebb.Omkara came as my saviour.Out there on the sets of Omkara,watching Vishal Bharadwaj put together his film with so much love and care,so much passion,it brought me back in touch with my reasons for being in this industry.It brought me back in touch with the power and magnificence of cinema..I had the good fortune of spending four and a half months with Vishal Bharadwaj.If you think he is a brilliant director,he is an even more brilliant person.There was so much to learn by just watching him direct, interact, speak..just being in his company was inspiring
I remember going to the sets even on days when I was not shooting just to watch him..and the passion with which he works...Vishal made me go back to thinking about the four year old kid that I was.I distinctly remember the first time I went on stage and how I completely forgot that there was an audience when I started to perform,and I remember there was a kid with me who forgot his lines and started to cry and panic and I looked at him,waited for him to remember,and when he didn't,I started speaking his lines.I wanted to become an actor because nothing else gave me that kind if high.But somewhere down the line,that connection had snapped,it went amiss.Omkara gave that connection back to me.Vishal Bharadwaj worked with so much integrity.He let nothing interfere with the fibre of his film.he's a courageous filmmaker and has the guts to take tough decisions.
I was cut off from the world during Omkara,when I got back,the first thing I did was return all my signing amounts....I mean,at that time I was not riding on some high success or anything,money was not pouring in like it was at one time but I asked my daddy...can you back me on this? He told me as long as you believe in yourself, I'll believe in you...So I called these few producers and returned the money.It felt gret,digging in my heels and saying that I was not going to do a film I didn't believe in.It felt like I had done away with all my excess baggage,and after a long,long time in my life,I felt free ....Then Shootout at Lokhandwala came..and I said okay,till I finish Shootout at Lokhandwala I'm not going to think of what I have to do next...I have just signed a filmr ecently after 20 odd months.
You also struck a special friendship with Ajay Devagan on the sets of Omkara
I was not in a regular state of mind when I went to shoot for Omkara.Ajay was like an elder brother,a great support..I was happy I had a friend,something that I really needed and missed in those days.
Must have been terrible to be the last to know that your girlfriend was seeing someone else...you must have felt like a fool to get to know about it from the papers.
I'm okay with that.I would always want to give my partner the benefit of the doubt.I have never cared about what people have to say,I have always expected my people to come upto me and speak if there's a problem.It is too degrading to throw papers at a person's face and wait for explanations...I'd rather not pay heed to what the world is saying and wait for the person concerned to tell me.That's just the way I am.
That's a tall order to maintain when everything else is pointing to a different direction.
You know,people break up everyday,relationships change hands,people outgrow each other,get bored,find somebody else...it happens everyday.It's not a big deal.You can't hang somebody for changing their mind.It's a matter of an entire lifetime,after all.But there has to be some dignity in parting.If the relationship has deserved your love,attention and care at any stage,it also deserved a respectful closure.It had to be given a decent burial.
If that doesn't happen,it can mess you up completely.I continued to stand by my relationship but towards the end,I didn't know if I was coming or going.I pretended all was good but my brains were being tossed around,I was reeling so much that I couldn't comprehend what was happening..I couldn't tell right from wrong,true from false,fake from real..It was not what she did,it was how she did it
She never really acknowledged the relationship with you.She always kept the escape door open.
The same happened with Salman
And for an actor it unwittingly becomes a huge spectacle,right in the view of the entire world,compounded by the horrible feeling that,that the entire world is discussing and talking about what a big fool you have been.
I'd still,after all that,pick the fool from the two parts.
Even the industry at larg has often alienated you....there was almost a hate campaign against you at one time..
I must agree I did feel alienated at times,but in retrospect maybe I did things to put people off,i was too engrossed in my own doing,in my own stupid things.But things are getting better.I mean,there have been so many of my colleagues Ajay,Akshay,Sunny,they have all been there and this is not post Shootout..Hrithik came and hugged me and told me "Just concenterate on your work,that's the best antidote".He also gave me a book.All these guys..Ajay,Akshay,Hrithik,Sunny,they have a permanent big place in my heart
Abhishek and you hit off well during Yuva and kept in touch even after that.
Yes,we had a wonderful equation.He was very gracious.He did a guest appearance for me in Home Delivery...He did another for Shootout at Lokhandwala But that was for Appu(Apoorva Lakhia)
Have you come face to face offlate with Abhishek Bachchan.
No
Not even at the Shootout at Lokhandwala..premiere.
He arrived late after I left.I had to leave early.I had to catch a flight to NewYork.I had a show.
But if you had met him.
If I did meet him,I would have gone up to him and congratulated him for his wedding.Why would I be awkward of anything?
The two of you met at Shaad Ali's wedding.
He was exceptionally nice with me
Were you aware at that time that he and Ash were seeing each other?
The papers were full of it.But he was in a very supportive mood,in an advising mood,you could say..he sat me down and gave me a chat on senseless rumour-mongering
Did you see Guru.Seeing that Ash-Abhishek affair blossomed on those sets?
I think Guru was a great film.You cannot expect anything less than brilliant from a filmmaker as great as Mani Ratman
What did you think of Abhishek in the film?
I think he's a brilliant actor
You and Abhishek are supposed to be doing Lakhia's Mission Istanbul together,you said he has a special appearance in that
You will have to check that through,this is from what I have heard of that script
You don't have any scenes together?
We are working together.There is no problem at either end.We are both thorough professionals and will do the film with the same sincerity.Even if we do have scenes together,I would treat it like any other with any other co-star.I have noting to run away from.--maybe he could have a problem.Maine toh hamesha sach hi bola hai..Whenever I have meet him,I have been honest.
Look,where I know I goofed,I'm prepared to make amends,and make right what i did wrong.I have made mistakes and I'm ready to accept that.I want to start afresh on a clean slate.I just want to do good work with good people.I just want to act and I don't want any external factor to be my reason to do or not to do a movie.
Like you missed out on your pairing with Rani Mukherjee.You made a great pair..It was unfortunate that you had a fall-out with her.
I really,really regret that.Rani is one of the most wonderful persons in the industry.You know,the best thing about her is that yo get what you see.She is what she is..We shared a great rapport...She was the first big actress I worked with.I hope a good script comes along and we can work together again.We met recently at a function and she was so nice and warm to me.
You have gone and made peace with Aditya Chopra too.
I went and apologised to Adi.Adi is one person who can leave differences aside very graciously.He congratulated me for Omkara,and said lets do some good work.He was very nice,I mean,I was to do HumTum,but then things didn't work out but now things are fine,In a way,it's like starting afresh.But I don;t want to rush into signing films.I don't want tog et entangled in a web again.Money has never been the motivating factor in my life.I have returned signing amounts even when my finances were low.This time,I want to be sure that my reasons are right for whatever I do.
Source..CineBlitz..September edition
DO NOT forget to thank me...I typed the bleeding article verbatim,took me an awful lot of time..The article was worth the trouble though, leaves plenty of room for discussion and arguments
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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