Vivek Anand Oberoi has experienced a lot of ups and downs in his Bollywood career. From giving a hit one year to being jobless the next, he’s seen it all. As he celebrates his two-decade career in showbiz, he’s glad he never lost faith in himself.

Vivek, who marked his debut playing a gangster in Ram Gopal Varma’s movie, Company (2002), which was released today, tells us, “I still feel like that same child who first stood on the stage at the age of five at a school function and fell in love with live performance.”

Instead of being launched by his dad, actor Suresh Oberoi, in an Abbas-Mustan project, Vivek chose to work his way up through the industry. “My dad was investing his entire life’s earnings in my debut film, which I found unacceptable. However, I wanted a career based on my own merits rather than my last name,” says the 45-year-old.

Recalling his challenging times, the Saathiya (2002) actor says, “The rejection here feels extremely personal. When people believe you are a struggler with no [industry] ties, they tell you all kinds of things. They told me I couldn’t act... But everything that broke me made me stronger.”

When we press him for details on what kind of personal remarks he was subjected to during those days, the Omkara (2006) actor reminisces one incident in particular: “I remember one specific producer made me sit outside his office for eight-nine hours. After three days, he called me to his office again, looked at me, and then handed me a photograph of someone without looking at my work or certificates, and said, ‘Yeh hota hai hero, tum mein woh baat nahin hai. Tum [actor] kabhi nahin bann paoge’. I was really hurt.”

When the same producer came to his residence and offered him a project, Vivek says he celebrated his “personal victory”. The actor reveals that the producer had no idea who he was or what had happened in the past: “Perhaps it’s because he met so many people on a daily basis. But that was a huge personal accomplishment.”

The actor, who also ventured into the digital space via Inside Edge, says he has “nothing but gratitude” as he reflects on his experience. “There was a time when nobody wanted to work with me... But the journey is filled with gratitude… And I still have miles to go before I sleep,” he concludes.