Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; May 23, 2019)

Vivek Anand Oberoi is finding himself embroiled in controversies one after the other. While the delay in his film’s release wasn’t enough, he retweeted a meme (on the personal life of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), sparking outrage on Twitter. He eventually deleted the tweet on Tuesday morning and apologised. Meanwhile, we got in touch with Vivek, who has been travelling across cities to promote his film on PM Narendra Modi, which will finally release tomorrow. The actor briefly spoke to us over the phone before taking off to Ahmedabad. We were told not to ask any question on the tweet controversy beforehand as he had deleted it.

About his film finally releasing a day after the election result, Vivek said, “I am really excited. The election results will be out 23rd. PM Narendra Modi will win with a thumping majority, so the film’s release on 24th will be a celebration of a kind. It’s an inspirational film.”

The movie’s release was pushed at the last minute on several occasions as it was looked upon as a propaganda film. Vivek said, “We went through that ordeal for over 40 days. It was disappointing that our right to release the film was clipped. Ours is not a propaganda film. There was definitely propaganda against our film. Instead of focussing on issues of national importance, our humble little film was attacked. The film is an emotional narrative and is aspirational,” said Vivek.

While speculation is rife that the actor is likely to get into politics at some point, he denied the same. Vivek explained, “I was first offered a ticket in 2004. From 2004 to 2019, I have been offered tickets by regional and national parties. I have said no every time. I jokingly say, 'Why be an MP when you can be a PM on screen?' About whether he will join the BJP in the near future, he added, “No I am not a member of any political party and I am going to keep it that way. I don’t want to be a politician just for the tag.”