20 years of Saathiya: The moment Vivek Oberoi realised he became a star, film’s shoot had to be cancelled as hundreds came to see him

 

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The actor calls Saathiya an important film in his career as it changed the perception people had about him after watching him in Company as an angry young gangster. “Saathiya is a very important film in my career. When Company released, everybody felt that this guy is the quintessential angry young man, (who’s good to play) gangster roles, action roles, (play) aggressive because Chandu was that kind of character who had amazing layers but didn’t look like the boy next door in any way. He was awe-inspiring, larger than life, Chandu Bhai of Company. People didn’t expect to see a complete turnaround in the character that I played, which is Adi.”

About playing passionately-in-love Adi, Vivek says, “Adi is just the guy next door, very very simple character but the nuances, the vulnerabilities, the anger he feels after fighting with his wife, the pressure that he’s dealing with on the work front, it almost felt like you’re watching a real life couple living their life. There are so many things that you would relate to personally, that was something really fresh. Even for me as an actor, it opened the whole new dimension and I got a lot of love and appreciation, and awards as I could play both ends of the spectrum — from Company to Saathiya.”

Vivek remembers how every couple that went and watched the film nudged each other at the film’s relatability. He says, “The love and appreciation I got for Saathiya was amazing. I remember going to watch the movie in theatres with the audience, hiding in the back, sneaking into Gaiety Galaxy after 15 mins of the film were done, watching couples and their reactions, watching wives or girlfriends nudge their husbands or boyfriends and say things like, ‘you do this, and you’re like this’. That was special about Saathiya, it was relatable to so many people. And age was no barrier, whether there was a couple in their 60s or a couple in their teens, they all related to Saathiya. I think it’s an homage, a dedication to all romantics at heart, no matter how old you are.”

Saathiya is also remembered for its music, composed by AR Rahman with lyrics by Gulzar. Vivek calls Saathiya album evergreen and shares, “I have had the privilege of doing multiple films with Rahman’s music and he is a legend. One expected nothing less than what he did with Saathiya; for me, it is an evergreen albums. Every single song in it has a different depth of emotion, whether it is ‘Chupke Se’ with brilliant lyrics by Gulzar sahab that just pierces the heart, or simple things like, ‘dosto se jhuti muthi dusro ka naam leke, phir meri baatein karna…,’ something that all of us have done in our lives. I remember sessions when Shaad and I went to meet Gulzar sahab at his bungalow, and heard him tell us the lyrics, it felt like pearls just dropping in poetry that he was creating.”

While all the girls were busy crushing on Vivek after seeing him riding a bike on a beach and humming ‘O Humdum Suniyo Re,’ Vivek shares that shooting that song was not as romantic. He laughs and shares, “The bike ride was funny. I was wearing headphones but there was no music as the song was yet to be recorded. Those headphones were connected to a walky-talky in my backpack and I had Shaad Ali screaming into it. We were shooting Saathiya on a low budget, it was a guerrilla filmmaking effort. So Shaad is in the front in an open Maruti Omni, holding on to a camera and shooting on Marine Drive.”

“Basically, while I am smiling, like I’m grooving to the rhythm, it feels like I’m enjoying the music, the truth was it was Shaad screaming in my ears, saying, ‘turn left, turn left, now turn right, now come forward, now go back…’ now when I look at it as an anecdote, the whole process was so funny. Today you feel the rhythm and the music, look at the smile on my face but that’s not what was going on in the background, but I enjoyed riding that bike on the beach and in the water, on Marine Drive, just the whole masti on bike felt like a part of my own college life and I think so many people related to it. And that’s why there’s that resonance even today.”

While the film is an easy re-watch today, making it was not as smooth. Sharing how the film’s budget was tight, Vivek said the film’s team did not hire a security guard for him but only one for Rani, and once he had to rescued from amid a mob. He shares, “I remember one particular scene where we were shooting at the Gaiety Galaxy railway crossing, and we had one last patch work on Saathiya left to do. It was a scene between me and Rani, and this was happening on Sunday because there was the only day we were allowed to shoot there. By then, Company had become an overnight success, and people had started recognising me. I remember I was standing there and shooting, we had no security because it was a tiny movie, so we had one security guard for Rani. And suddenly there was this one group of people that came out after watching Company at Gaiety Galaxy and started shouting ‘Chandu Bhai Chandu bhai’, I felt amazing. And then suddenly, within an hour, a crowd of thousands of people who came in from different parts of the city who started cheering for me. But finally the cops had to come in to break up the crowd, we had to stop shooting and I had to be escorted out in a police vehicle.”

However, it took Shaad Ali to make Vivek realise that he had become a star. “It was all so new to me… I was just a regular guy who was working with a bunch of friends. I remember Shaad coming up to me and I was saying that I was really sorry the shoot got cancelled. He just smiled and said, ‘look at these guys, look at all of them, look at how much love they have come to show you. Tu star ban gaya mere bhai’. That moment was like an epiphany, one of the most poignant moments of my life,” Vivek concludes.