Vivek Oberoi, who was last seen in the Rohit Shetty directorial web series Indian Police Force, has got candid about his entrepreneurial journey despite delivering successful movies like Masti franchise, Saathiya, Shootout at Lokhandwala, and Omkara, among others. In a recent interview, Vivek spoke about how he started his business journey before he became an actor and still relies on that income.
“I entered business, before becoming an actor… At the age of 15 I started a small ‘dhandha’ (business) because I had come from a boarding school and my father (Suresh Oberoi) gave me Rs 500 pocket money. I came from a boys’ boarding school, saw beautiful girls in Mithibai College, wanted to take them out on dates. I was given Rs 5oo a month, but I used it all up in one date,” Vivek told ABP Live.
He added, “My father scolded me, and asked me to use money judiciously, be more responsible. I was 15, my ego was hurt, and I told my mother that I didn’t want my father’s money, ‘main khud sambhalunga‘ (I’ll handle it myself). I stuck to it and didn’t take money from my father, but I needed money to attend college, pay for tea and rickshaw travels. That’s when I accidentally started working, did a small voice gig, compered shows and started earning a bit from there.”
Vivek said about his stock portfolio, “Once I started earning more I started investing in the stock market, I trained with brokers for that. I started my stock market portfolio when I was 16- 17 (years old). Then I did some commodity trading. I was 19 when I first set up my business in Whitefield, Bangalore. I sold my stake at 21 and went to New York for further studies.”
He shared, “I returned and became an actor, Company happened, Saathiya happened. Life was good, but I always wanted to start as an investor. However, I ended up becoming an active businessman. It helped me… When I started struggling in Bollywood, when I started facing difficulties even after being a successful actor… I was facing challenges even after proving my skills, there was a different kind of pressure when I wasn’t getting offered any films. That was my source of income — I was running my house, charitable foundation with the money I earned through my business and acting in movies, doing events and making appearances, I paid my staff with it too.”
“I was running a school in Vrindavan, helping cancer patients, so when my income from movies started drying up, stopped getting roles, I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue all these things. Philanthropy is a part of my life, and I needed to be financially secured, I never asked for money from anyone, I didn’t ask my father, so I wouldn’t ask anyone else either. That’s when I started active business. Got into real estate, founded some companies, some technology companies grew very big. Today I have invested in around 29 companies,” Vivek concluded.
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