Vivek Oberoi is a man on a mission – apart from doing quality work in films, he wants to help the needy and says that “inner happiness is achieved by doing good for others”.
“I feel it’s my duty to help the needy. I have been taught by my family that inner happiness is achieved by doing good for others and I totally believe in this. Everyone should take out time from their busy schedule to spread happiness in the world,” Vivek said in an email interview.
The 33-year-old is associated with a couple of charitable organisations.
Apart from being a part of his mother’s NGO The Yashodhara Oberoi Foundation (YOF), he is also the brand ambassador of Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA).
“Today people have a very short span of memory. When I talk about a certain NGO, it generates awareness and leads to more helping hands which they require,” he said.
“It is not possible for any NGO to support its cause without any helping hand. I try to be the middle man by creating a right association with NGOs and corporate houses,” added the actor, who recently joined hands with Panasonic’s Eco Idea Campaign and gifted a refrigerator to NGO Snehasadan, which works for street children’s welfare.
“A couple of months back I overheard a conversation of a staff about Snehasadan and what they do for the street kids. It caught my attention and I did my own research. I was really impressed with their work. When I met Father Placido Fonseca, he mentioned that in summer it gets tough for the children. I gave it a thought and got in touch with Panasonic to gift a refrigerator,” he said.
Going back to his movies, the actor is looking forward to the release of “Prince – It’s Showtime”, his first solo film in five years.
Asked what took him so long to do a film as a solo actor, he said: “I was reading a lot of scripts but nothing really interested me and I just didn’t want to work in random projects. I believe in quality work and not quantity.”
Directed by debutant Kooki Gulati, the film is about a quick-witted thief who wakes up one morning to realise that he has a gunshot on his arm and has absolutely no clue about how he gets it because he has lost his memory.
Vivek will also be seen doing some daring stunts in the film.
“I was a bit nervous doing some daredevil stunts in my film which I had never done before. ‘Prince – It’s Showtime’ is my first action film and will showcase me in a new avatar. It’s a story that could be every man’s fantasy and every man’s nightmare,” he said.
“All the action scenes have been shot in Hollywood style which audiences will see for the first time,” Vivek added.
Releasing April 9, the film also stars Aruna Shields, Nandana Sen, Niroo Singh and Sanjay Kapoor.
Vivek shares an intimate kissing scene with Aruna in the film and says he had to do several retakes to get it right.
“It was our first ever intimate kissing scene and both of us were jittery, which led to too many retakes as it was not looking natural,” he said.
Vivek is currently working on Ram Gopal Varma’s “Rakta Charitra” and has two other films in the pipeline.
Asked about recent reports of him planning to settle down, he said: “Correction, I am not looking at settling any time in the near future and what’s my age…I am still a child.”