His could well be termed as the rise from the ashes. Down, though definitely not out till about a couple of years back, things had started moving for Vivek Oberoi when he began work on Prince and Kurbaan. Though Kurbaan didn’t turn out to be spectacular from commercial standpoint, it still managed to fetch him the kind of visibility and critical acclaim that he was hoping for. And now with Prince seeing the kind of a massive solo lead release which is traditionally enjoyed only by the actors belonging to superstar league, Vivek has all the right reasons to believe that finally he has a good platform from where he can only soar higher. In a tête-à-tête with Joginder Tuteja, Vivek talks about the great situation that he is finding himself in today with his career showing an upswing all over again.
Vivek, are you satisfied with the buzz which has been created for Prince or would you have wanted it to be a little more?
Honestly, I am over the moon with the buzz. The promos are a rage, especially on the internet. In fact I am told that on Bollywood Hungama itself, the promos have broken records in terms of number of hits. The music too is burning the charts in the UK,
USA, UAE and of course India. So far it has been a dream and I only expect the momentum to reach its peak this Friday. Fingers crossed.
| There is no scare factor involved. We all are quite confident about the film’s prospects |
While it is only a few hours to go for the release, even you would agree that Prince took taken its own sweet time to get to this point. What took the film so long to be made?
Making a film of this quality and scale on an international level takes only three things: 1) Time, 2) Time and 3) more time (winks). Any quality product takes time and we all believe that Prince was really worth it after all!
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In the recent past, out and out action flicks like Luck and Acid Factory haven’t quite worked with the audiences. Doesn’t that make you a little scared about the film’s prospects?
The biggest advantage of Prince is that it has a great story at heart, an interesting screenplay full of twists and turns and a fresh premise. It is not mindless action in isolation. The awesome music is yet another bonus. So yeah, to answer your question, there is no scare factor involved. We all are quite confident about the film’s prospects.
Heist films too have seen mixed luck coming their way over the last few years. While Kaante has been the most memorable and successful of the lot, the technology and cinematic quotient too has taken huge leaps over last few years. Has Prince managed to take a step ahead?
Prince is more in the full-on entertainer space of films like Race or Dhoom 2. The film is a great blend of global and local flavour. While the technology and action is truly international with a global look and packaging, at heart Prince is an absolute Bollywood style entertainer which qualifies for being a ‘paisa vasool seetimaar’ film!”
There appears to be some really daring all around stunts happening in the film…
Yes, we believe that Prince takes Bollywood action to another level altogether. In fact, it took me 5 months of rigorous training to be able to pull off those phenomenal stunts all by myself without using a body double. The stunts and action sequences in the film are surely going to set your heart racing!
| Prince is more in the full-on entertainer space of films like Race or Dhoom 2 |
The film has as many as three leading ladies – Aruna Shields, Nandana Sen and Neeru Singh. It must have been some experience to be surrounded by such pretty women…
All three lovely Mayas are very integral part to the film’s plot (smiles). There is a very interesting twist where in the midst of everything, Prince has to figure out that which one of these girls is stating the truth and which one is his true love – the real Maya. It was a pleasure working with my lovely leading ladies and they have brought great freshness to
the film.
Prince arrives in the time period when no single film has worked at the box office. During last 6-7 weeks, there have been a couple of dozen box office disasters already. Do you really feel it is the right time, especially with IPL also in the running?
On the contrary I feel that this is the best time for a film to arrive because Prince is the only big film releasing in April. Also, with diminishing interests in the IPL amongst audience, we hope they will come out and enjoy this mega treat – Prince – in the theatres.
Last but definitely not the least Vivek, in a way don’t you feel that life has come back full circle for you after so many years? Finally, you are being interviewed on your films and performance rather than what is happening in your personal life?
Thank you for saying that (smiles). Yes, it is indeed a great feeling. I am so happy and grateful for this amazing change. I intend to keep it this way by only focusing on my one true love – Acting!
