Back in 2002 – way before he was cast as Narendra Modi in a biopic on India’s incumbent prime minister – Vivek Oberoi made his Bollywood debut with Company which was closely followed by Saathiya.
The success of these films brought several other offers by his way, including roles for some now iconic characters. One of the most notable of these was Murli Prasad Sharma, aka Munna Bhai from Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. According to Huffington Post, Vivek even took workshops to prepare for the role, which one now associates with Sanjay Dutt, only to back out at the last minute. He was quoted as saying,
“I wanted to do Munna Bhai, I said yes to it, but destiny had it that it was supposed to be a Sanjay Dutt film. I couldn’t adjust my dates.”Vivek Oberoi, Actor
Vivek was also approached by Farah Khan in 2006 to play antagonist Mukesh Mehra in Om Shanti Om, a role that eventually went to Arjun Rampal. Apparently he turned it down because he didn’t want to play another negative character. According to the publication, Vivek was also one of the first actors to be considered for Hum Tum, Bunty Aur Babli and Rock On, all of which he rejected.
Vivek Oberoi’s latest film PM Narendra Modi was to hit theatres on 11 April. However, the Election Commission has put a ban on the release of the film for the duration of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. . In its order, the commission said that “any such film that subserves purpose of any political entity or individual should not be displayed in the electronic media.”
(With inputs from Huffington Post)
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