Vivek Oberoi shouldn’t have done it: Apoorva Lakhia reveals he was threatened for casting him in ‘Shootout at Lokhandwala’.
Mumbai: Director Apoorva Lakhia recalls the time when people threatened him to not work with Vivek Oberoi or else there are going to be repercussions. His 2007 film ‘Shootout At Lokhandwala’ featured Vivek alongside Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Tusshhar Kapoor, and Abhishek Bachchan among others. However, seems like it wasn’t an easy journey for Apoorva to pull off that casting coup.
In an interview now, the director opened up on how people crticised him for having Vivek on board because of the latter’s infamous rift with Salman Khan. It was in 2003 that the actor went all out against Salman in a press conference and claimed that he had called him 41 times and also threatened him for life. The longing effect of that conference remained forever and Vivek late admitted that his career was hugely impacted because of the incident.
In his interview with Siddharth Kannan, Apoorva said only Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty stood by him after he decided to work with Vivek in his gangster drama. The director said he had promised the actor and there was no way he was not delivering on his commitment. Besides, he said, Vivek was a good actor and he may have done the wrong thing but he deserved to work in the movies.
VIVEK OBEROI DID WRONG BUT…
Apoorva said, “At that time when I cast Vivek, a lot of producers called me and said ‘replace him or we won’t work with you.’ But I had given a commitment to Vivek, so how do you go back from a commitment? And Sanju sir supported me, Suniel Shetty supported me, Sanjay Gupta supported me. So if there guys are supporting me, I thought why should I think about the future? If Shootout became a hit, whoever rejected me will come back.”
Apoorva, who has helmed movies like Zanjeer (2013), Mission Istanbul (2008), and Dus Kahaniyaan (2007) among others, added that he didn’t hire Vivek for any other reason but only because he thought of him as a good actor. Appreciating the actor for his work, he said, “But Vivek was a good actor. Whatever he did was wrong, he shouldn’t have done it, but that does not mean he is not talented. I am hiring for his acting abilities. I am not hiring any person for his personality. He is a professional and he was really good when I was reading with him. I think he did a fantastic job.”
Vivek’s personal fight with Salman following his breakup with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took a big professional toll on him. He was almost boycotted by the film industry and lost out on many major movies and many others were shelved owing to different reasons. In the following years, the actor, in an attempt to put the past behind him, tried to apologise to Salman on multiple occasions but couldn’t help it.