Street politics has returned but, this time, it’s the chief minister who is on the back foot with the state’s doctors adopting her trademark style of protesting on the roads against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital
Vivek Oberoi’s journey in Bollywood has been no less than a roller-coaster ride. He has seen two extremes in his professional career. Recently, the actor recalled facing trolling, public humiliation, and professional sabotage due to the strong power of the ‘lobby’. He also opened up about getting threats from the underworld.
During a recent conversation with ABP Entertainment Live, Vivek Oberoi talked about dealing with a hard phase of his life when he had to shift to business from acting. Addressing the times, the actor opined that one concentrates on the intensity of the bad phase and how long has been one going through it. He mentioned if the intensity is less or short-lived, one heals quickly.
Opposed to it, if it is an intense experience and goes on for a longer period, it takes time to heal as pain resurfaces and makes it challenging to move further. In such situations, the actor emphasized the importance of taking control of one’s life and moving forward.
The actor further cited his own experience, stating, “In my case, the intensity was overwhelming. I faced trolling, public humiliation, and professional sabotage. Projects were snatched away from me after I signed them, kyunki lobby ke jo powers the bahut strong the (the power of lobby was so strong).”
“Fir extreme kya hua ki jaise underworld ka involvement hona, threats aana (It went to that extreme wherein underworld was involved, and I received threats). The Mumbai police had to provide me with an armed guard and a gunman. Things went to that extreme,” the actor further added.
Reflecting on the impact, Vivek admitted that one’s peace of mind can become zero in such situations. He stated whilst he was okay as he had an armed guard, he would always be worried about the safety of his mother, sister, and father.
The 48-year-old actor remarked that one gets so worried that it starts to impact one’s work. He pointed out how it would become difficult for one to concentrate and focus on work. According to him, this leads one to go in a downward spiral and things become bad. “So, at some point, you have to square the slate and say, ‘Enough, now I have to remove this from my system and focus and concentrate,” said Vivek.
In order to come out of that zone, Vivek shared that his mother once took him to a hospital in a pediatric cancer wing. He recalled seeing little kids of 7–8-year-old kids battling cancer in the worst situations. The actor mentioned he then saw the helplessness on the parents’ faces, who could go to any extent to save their child. However, it wasn’t in their control.
The actor talked about his learning from the experience, stating, “meri problems itni badi nai hain (my problems are not that big).” He rather expressed his belief in embracing that his problems were nothing in comparison to the problems those children and parents were dealing with.
Vivek shared that the kids were elated to see him when he went inside the room to meet them. They started smiling and this experience had such an impact that he started visiting them regularly. He would read storybooks to them and later developed a toy bank for the kids. This brought a wave of positive energy among the kids, and the actor also admitted to feeling a sense of fulfillment. On a concluding note, the Saathiya actor confessed how this selfless service made him forget his pain.
On the work front, Vivek was last seen in Rohit Shetty’s web show, Indian Police Force co-starring Shilpa Shetty and, Sidharth Malhotra.
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Soha Ali Khan reflected on her royal heritage and the family’s Pataudi Palace, which she mentioned is chiefly owned by her brother, Saif Ali Khan. She noted that the Khan family never gets the Palace painted but gets it whitewashed cause it’s less expensive. She also revealed that her mother Sharmila Tagore keeps a check on ‘hisab-kitab’
In a chat with Cyrus Broacha on the Housing.com YouTube channel, she also said that her mother, veteran actor, still keeps a tab on the palace’s daily maintenance expenses. “My mother sits with her hisaab-kitaab; she knows daily expenditure and monthly expenditure. For example, we whitewash Pataudi, it’s not painted because it’s a lot less expensive. And we haven’t bought anything new for a long time. It’s the architecture of the place that’s most inviting; it’s not the things, it’s not the objects”.
Soha shared details about the history of Pataudi Palace, revealing that she was born after the abolition of privy purses and royal titles in 1970. She mentioned that her brother, Saif, was born a prince as he arrived that same year. With these titles, she said, came both responsibilities and expenses.
Soha suggested that her grandmother’s father may have been somewhat envious of her grandfather due to his competitive nature as a sportsman. However, while building the palace to impress him, her grandfather ran out of funds. As a result, many parts of the palace were covered with carpets because there wasn’t enough money to complete the flooring with marble, leaving cement underneath.
She also mentioned that since the ‘generator room’ belongs to her, she is responsible for its maintenance. This ‘generator room’ is actually a two-bedroom apartment. She explained that when the palace was leased to Neemrana Hotels, her parents needed a place to stay, so the generator room was transformed into a two-BHK.
Soha also referenced Saif’s previous comments, where he stated that he had to buy the palace back after it had been leased to a hotel chain. Now, the family uses it as a vacation home and rents it out for film productions. The movie Animal and Saif’s series Tandav were among the recent projects filmed at the iconic location.
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