Sabotaged career: Vivek Oberoi reveals he wanted to 'end things' like Sushant Singh Rajput

Actor opens up about the ‘cabal’ of powerful people in Bollywood, robbing others of opportunities

Vivek Oberoi has made some shocking revelations in his latest interview while looking back at his acting journey. The Saathiya star has confessed he was so depressed at a point in his career that he thought about ending his life, because of which, he can relate to Sushant Singh Rajput. He recalled how his family kept him sane and his wife Priyanka Alva guided him through what was possibly the darkest phase of his life.

It's been 20 years since Oberoi delivered a breakthrough performance as either a gangster in a film like Company or a hopeless romantic in a masterpiece like Saathiya. But the Shootout at Lokhandwala actor had ventured into Bollywood without his bigshot father’s help and made it all the way up without being arrogant about it.

Oberoi had turned down Abbas Mustan’s proposal to be launched as a star kid so he could make his own in the industry. Because of this, he had to stand outside production houses just to get an audition without telling anyone he was Suresh Oberoi’s son. And even once he made it in, Oberoi’s journey continued to be tumultuous. 

On Bollywood Bubble’s Memory Lane, Oberoi recalled, “After Shootout at Lokhandwala, I got a lot of praise and even won awards. People kept saying ‘oh my God, this is amazing!’ and then for one and a half year, I was sitting at home. Nobody was coming to me with films. It all defied logic. As an actor I was delivering, the box office was delivering, but somehow, there was no work for me,” he shared. 

Oberoi blamed a cabal of powerful people who used their power and influence to destroy careers. He also asserted that the lobby that tried to create hurdles for him, is now breaking.

He said, “It is breaking. Look at what Sushant Singh Rajput went through, or so many other kids go through, so much talent gets crushed because it was somebody’s decision, for reasons other than work, to just destroy someone. There is so much power in some people’s hands, there is a God complex, which needs to go. We can’t give them so much power that they start behaving like gods, thinking they can make or break someone. People have said this to me and they actually believe it. It’s our fault as an industry that we’ve always given that kind of power to them. That pedestal should be given only to talent — new, old, upcoming, established, that is what’s important.”

When asked about how it all affected him back in the day, Oberoi reflected, “I was constantly so upset with the negativity around me. Maybe that was the agenda. The agenda is sometimes to break you mentally. But I think Priyanka had a big role in creating a haven for me and figuring out not what I do but who I really am,” added Oberoi. The actor further clarified that by “ending it all,” he was referring to something darker, which is why he could relate to what happened with Rajput and other people. Rajput died of suicide after making a successful shift from television to the film industry. In June 2020, he was found dead at his Bandra apartment.

He said, “I felt that darker side and the pain. This place can be pretty cruel and they can be brutal with trying to crush you. When lies are spoken so many times and so loudly by so many, they become the truth. They force you to start believing that that’s the truth about you. But in the hindsight with a lot of calmness, lots of strength and inner happiness, you realise that the truth is your truth and no one can take that away from you but you.”

He also credited his mom for being his hero. “She gave me this incredible tool to stop feeling self-pity, self-pain and a sense of disillusionment. She took me to see kids who were dealing with cancer at Tata Memorial Hospital and the moment I walked in, these kids smiled, and the whole room brightened up,” reminisced Oberoi. 

“That day I realised two things – one, my problems are nothing compared to those children and parents, so I can deal with them. And two, that popularity, success, and just being a known figure can be a gift from the divine and with that gift, you can bring a smile to people’s faces. That’s the power you have been blessed with. I committed myself to that. Every time I would take away their pain, I would feel joy and my pain just died. I started feeling more complete as a person and happier as a person,” he reflected. 

Oberoi was last seen in MX Player’s Dharavi Bank. Directed by Samit Kakkad, the crime web series also featured Suniel Shetty and Sonali Kulkarni. The actor will now be seen in Rohit Shetty’s OTT debut, Indian Police Force as IGP Rathore, alongside Sidharth Malhotra.