It has been over two decades since Vivek Oberoi made headlines with his explosive press conference against Salman Khan in 2003, where he alleged that the superstar had threatened him over his relationship with Aishwarya Rai. The episode cast a long shadow on his career, leading to years of struggle in Bollywood. Now, Vivek has revisited the controversy in a candid interview, sharing how he coped with heartbreak, career setbacks, and the lessons life taught him along the way.

Vivek Oberoi on heartbreak

In a conversation with Prakhar Gupta, the Saathiya actor opened up about his emotional nature and how heartbreak changed him. “I have been a very sensitive and emotional person in life. I don’t want to live in the fear of heartbreak because I have lived that already. I have experienced it, it’s a very scary, lonely and insular life. I am a very human, relationship-loving, family-oriented guy,” he said.

Vivek admitted that the pain of betrayal made him retreat into loneliness. “After the heartbreak, when I clamped down myself, I became very lonely just to protect myself because I didn’t want to experience that pain again. As humans, we go through this cycle. But, that’s not me, it’s not my nature. I was functioning in an opposite way, it makes you feel like fish out of water. You have to be open again, to love again, and feel again.”

Vivek Oberoi on his feud with Salman Khan

Recalling the much-publicised feud with Salman, he reflected on how perspective changes over time. “Ajeeb baat yeh hai ki sar par jab aafat aati hai, sar pe pange hote hai, tab woh bade lagte hai… Similarly, I feel when God (Your parampita) sees your problems, he must be thinking, ‘bacche this is a small thing, I’ll make you stronger’.” He added, “Woh perspective baadmein dikhta hai… Now I find it immature. Having or giving a reaction feels funny now. Ek woh jo darr tha, ya kadvahat thi, bitterness thi, scars the, it becomes a difficult window at that time. Whatever I went through, I have forgotten about it.”

What hurt him the most, he revealed, was watching his parents suffer. “Jo difficult hai move on karna vo hai maa ki aankhon mein aansu dekhna, pita ke chehre pe shikan. Vo cheezein reh jaati hain. Eventually, you have to move on from that and keep their happy moments in mind, because otherwise your vibration gets negative.”

Vivek Oberoi on career boycott

Vivek also recalled the career boycott he faced. “I was at a point when terrifying career boycott was going on. No one was ready to work with me. I was being removed from the films that I had already signed. On top of that, I was getting strange threats over call. Sometimes, it was me, my sister, mother, or father. My personal life was also in complete mess at that time. I went into depression and cried a lot in my mother’s lap like a mama’s boy.”

He credited his mother for helping him gain perspective during this low phase. “I kept saying, why me?… She listened to me, stroked my hair lovingly and asked one question, ‘Did you ever ask yourself that question when you were winning awards, making films, and getting followed by fans shouting your character names?’… She took me to the pediatric cancer wing of a hospital. That day changed my life. I realised two things – my problem is nothing in life and secondly, every kid was smiling in that pain.”

On the work front, Vivek Oberoi was last seen in Kesari Veer alongside Suniel Shetty and Sooraj Pancholi. He is currently busy filming Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, which is scheduled to hit theatres in 2026.