Vivek on how he got the Maya like edge

Vivek Oberoi, the talented actor who shot to fame with his very first act in a gangster's role is all charged up to ignite the screen playing a fiery real life gangster, Maya Dolas in his forthcoming Shootout At Lokhandwala. We caught up with Vivek at his Juhu villa, where he shared with us his excitement about SAL, the list of things he intends to do before he turns 30 and much more.

Post Saathiya you had amassed a huge female following. Do you think that down the line it has all receded?
That's the funny thing. There is a perception about a fan following from the media. Copy doesn't sell if it is not dramatic. It's a work hazard so I can understand. What I would like to say here is what has amazed me in my five years here is the amount of love and adulation I have received from my fans over these years despite having a bad run at the box office in between. I have been to many places during my shoots and I have had people coming up to me and giving me so much love and respect for my work, for films I didn't think did well or did not like myself in them but my fans have told me they loved me in those. So a fan decides for himself, box office does not determine what a fan decides. When I started my career, the faceless fan was just a statistic because the media tends to make it that way. But, today it's more of an emotional connection and I now really value my fans. Because, in these years I have traveled to places and understood their value when at times when I have been lying really low and suddenly that totally starry eyed, giggly girl comes to you, it just brightens your day out. A little kid comes to you and says he loved me in a particular song or role or calls me by my character's name. Fans for me are my ultimate support system and I would like to thank all of them for having really been there and stuck by me during times good or bad.

For sometime now, you had become like a punching bag for a certain section of the media. Didn't you feel like reacting?
I am an actor dude, not a reactor (Laughs). Seriously speaking, I don't care and I don't feel like reacting. I just yawn and move on. But it's high time they realise this has all now become really boring because people who are reading it are also bored by now.

As you look back do you think you committed some mistakes?
I love my mistakes because if I didn't have those mistakes then I wouldn't have learnt. If I didn't learn then I wouldn't have all this experience which will help me further. The MAN upstairs, I believe is now in my corner. I think he is my best friend. Always since as a kid I have believed that. With every failure my belief gets stronger. Every time when I have failed he has been kind enough to teach me a lesson because he is preparing me to become all that I aspire to be in future. So I am learning it all now. So everything that I need to learn now will help me achieve what my ultimate aspiration, aims and goals are.

How did you end up signing bad films?
Every film has a certain intent, sometimes the intent works and it translates till the end or sometimes the intent is lost mid-way. You might sign a film thinking this film is going to be ground breaking and then after that all you realise during the shooting of the film that it is head breaking.

Was your absence onscreen for a longtime now, a conscious decision?
Some people want to work for money, for fame or power, some people want to work for just the work. I am one of them. So after I decided this, I took a break until Shootout At Lokhandwala came along. After Omkara I felt that I should do films that truly excited me as an actor. I wanted to act since I was four. I wanted to go back to that root and rediscover why I wanted to act. Was it for money, power or was it because I wanted to act. I found that joy of acting in Omkara. Somewhere down the line I had lost it. In finding Maya, my character in Shootout I found myself acting again. I was beckoned to the Maya Nagari… pun intended. At times you get carried away by the industry and you get sucked by many other things and that too on a massive scale here.

When you signed SAL, didn't you think your role in it would be compared to the gangster you played in Company? How different is your Maya from Company's Chandu?
What really got me kicked about Maya was that he is alluring in a dark way. He is fearless. Chandu was very vulnerable and emotional. Maya uses his fearlessness as a weapon to leverage his power. This character is so edgy, so right out there that one keeps constantly wondering what he is all about. He is an enigma. Another thing that I was trying to achieve was this constant look in eyes. If you look at the promos of the film you will notice he is always high on something. I wanted to create that high from a sense of power and fearlessness rather than from substance that he used. This whole process was very exciting. Maya had this tremendous sense of self belief almost like a sense of immortality like flirting with danger all the time. I have a certain sense of respect for Chandu. It is weird but he is always like someone whom I have known and we parted ways sometime ago but there are still many fond memories. The reason I didn't do another film in a gangster's role for 5 years after Company was because I wanted to be challenged enough that the role demanded enough of me as an actor to try something that's diametrically opposite. Maya worked for me because it was a dark character.

What research you put into playing Maya considering it was based on a real life character?
This entire process of research was very fascinating. I read A.A.Khan's Surrender. I took certain things from it and used them in my characterization. I met gangsters and murderers to find out what kick they get out of killing people. Why don't they regret it and feel it's a matter of pride. I found out that it's a weird sense of draw that they have. I found out of some of them are really repentant but their percentage is very little.

Do you remember the incident that happened in Mumbai on which this film is based upon?
I was in school that time. But I do remember this incident and the name Maya Dolas. I remember it was this big incident that happened during that time and having heard that there was firing in Lokhandwala. 1755 bullets were fired, that's a lot.

Do you prefer doing such roles which require a lot of research or lover boy roles?
Who says romantic roles can't be research oriented? I am dying to play a real life character who is an absolute romantic like a poet or an artist. I would go on a totally different trip to try and get inspired to do that.

You haven't signed a single film post Shootout At Lokhandwala?
I was shooting for Omkara when SAL was offered to me and I took around 2-3 weeks to take a decision on this film. Then when I decided I was going to do it that day I swore to myself that I am not going to do another film. I am not going to be shooting this film and calling somebody on the sets of this film and discussing another script which I am going to be shooting six months later. I did not want to do anything of that. I as an individual, as an actor, as a human being don't think that I have the capacity to juggle all this. So that is why I didn't sign any other film, which is why I don't have anything on floor right now. I am going to take one big well deserved holiday after SAL's release.

What do you intend to do ahead post SAL?
I want to go for a holiday, come back, then read scripts and then decide what I want to do. After being the person that I am today, I just really want to do one film in a year then go for a holiday again. There is a list of things I want to do before I turn 30 later this year. Like I want go deep sea diving off the Great Barrier Reef, go shark feeding. I want to go to Himalayas. Later I also want to climb Mt. Everest once in life time. I also want to take my pilot's license so I have also been taking my flying lessons.

a lot has been said abt his work in SOAL. Hope its as good as it is made out to be. he was great in Company 👏