Vivek Oberoi agrees that Bollywood is an exclusive club where 'either surname or who you know' matter more than talent

Vivek Oberoi has been a part of Bollywood for almost 2 decades. He has been a part of some of the most memorable films and has time and again proved to be a talented actor. He was recently seen reprising his character as Vikrant for the third season of Inside Edge. Now, the actor has opened up about the industry and has agreed that a lot of factors matter more here than talent.

In an interview with HT, Vivek Oberoi said, “As far as practical aspects of it, being ….(sounds funny when I say it) being a senior who has been around for 20 years, I do feel we have missed a trick or two. One big complaint that I have against my industry is that we haven’t developed the nursery that nurtures young talent. It is difficult. We made it into this exclusive club where it is either surname or who you know or which lobby or which darbar you do a salaam at… that matters, not your talent. That’s unfortunate.”

He also recalled, “I have been lost down the path, I have taken the wrong path...I have been confused, I have gone from my own errors, my own journeys and I own all of them. I own all my mistakes because they have enriched me, they have taught me to be who I am today. Who I am today is a very content person, and that is the journey I decided to take. I decided to be someone who wanted to make it on my own merit. My dad was very worried, he was like ‘you do not know how difficult struggles are’. And, it was difficult. It was 18 months of constant rejection and it was very personal. People would not just say 'no', they would say ‘no, you do not have it, you can never be an actor, no you do not have the qualities of being an actor.' And, you feel very judged.”

He went on to say, “For me, it was like Arya Stark's (Game of Thrones character) diary. I was writing down the names of people and I was like these are the ones who are going to call me one day, they are going to come to my house, asking me to do their films. And when it happened, that was a humble victory I never gloated about. really enjoyed that. They did not even remember me, did not even remember I was there, struggling in their doors, they dissed me, or they made me wait 8 hours outside their office for a two-minute meeting. They didn't even remember me, and here they were saying ‘Sir and aap please humari film kijiye (Sir, please do our film).' It felt like a big victory and big vindication inside. You have to believe in yourself. I feel very proud, in fact, more than me, my father feels very proud that without using his last name, his money, or connections, I have made it on pure merit, on talent.”

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