Vivek Oberoi recalls press conference against Salman Khan, talks of ‘dark side’ of Bollywood: ‘I survived a trial by fire’

Recalling the time, Vivek told Hindustan Times, “I’m glad that I emerged from that. I kind of came up through the trial by fire and survived it. But not everybody’s going be that lucky.” The actor said when he looks back, he went through a lot of “unnecessary stuff” which completely exhausted him, crushing his morale and pushing him to a corner of no work.

“In hindsight, I went through a lot of stuff that was unnecessary. A lot of lobbies, a lot of repressive stories – kind of what Priyanka has been alluding to also. That’s been a hallmark of our industry, unfortunately. It’s been one of the dark sides of our industry. And I’ve been on the receiving end of it. I know how frustrating it is, it can make one feel extremely, exhausted and tired. You feel like, I’ve just delivered an award winning, commercially successful performance in Shoot out Lokhandwala and after that, I’m sitting at home for 14 months, not getting any work.”

The actor said Priyanka’s statement was “inspirational” and lauded the Citadel star for venturing out, exploring something new, which led to something “magical” happening to her personally and professionally. Vivek said today, if one speaks up about the harassment they go through in the industry, people are likely to find far more vocal support, unlike his time, when people attempted to silence him.

“Back in the day when I voiced against it, every ‘well wisher’ would call me up and say, ‘Don’t talk about it. It is like a family secret’. But if you have abuse going on in the family and you don’t speak up about it because it’s a family secret? That’s stupid. How will the abuse get fixed? So, it’s a systemic issue in the industry which is getting better. People are being more vocal.

“There is more decentralization of power. Less and less people can play God and the fans are now aware. Sushant (Singh Rajput, late actor) should have never lost his life no matter what. It’s just so sad. What a talented young guy and he should have had a better network of friends. You call the industry, a family, then the family should be there for each other,” he added.