Vivek Oberoi recalls changing in restaurant toilets during 'Saathiya' shoot: 'I didn’t have a makeup van'

Vivek Oberoi said, “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."

Actor Vivek Oberoi, who commenced his acting career in the early 2000s rose to fame as the rugged action hero following his debut in Ram Gopal Varma's 'Company' and 'Road'. The actor, who is the son of veteran star Suresh Oberoi recalled his initial days as an actor and stated that it wasn't all hunky dory. 

In an interview with Humans of Bombay Vivek looked back at the time he was shooting ‘Saathiya’ alongside Rani Mukerji. He said, “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 mentioned how RGV had advised against doing the film since he was more of an action hero. But the actor went ahead with it after watching Mani Ratnam’s 'Alaipayuthey', the film that inspired 'Saathiya'.  

“Everybody said don’t so Saathiya. ‘You are an action hero. How can you do a love story?’ 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. Saathiya’s director Shaad Ali is my school friend. He was initially making the film with Abhishek Bachchan but that didn’t work out,” said Vivek. 

Vivek went on to do several films such as ‘Kaal’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’, ‘Krrish 3’, and the ‘PM Narendra Modi’ biopic. He has also been featured in popular OTT shows like 'Inside Edge', and 'Dharavi Bank'. 

Meanwhile, on the work front, Vivek was last seen in the web series 'Indian Police Force'. Created by Rohit Shetty, the cop action-drama also stars Sidharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Shweta Tiwari, Nikitin Dheer, Rituraj Singh, Mukesh Rishi, and Lalit Parimoo in key roles. 

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