Wearing a 28 kg metal costume for Kaal was the toughest thing - Vivek Oberoi

Guess what’s similar between Vivek Oberoi and Deepika Padukone? They are the only two actors whose back-to-back movies have raked in more than 100 crore. Understandably, with Krrish 3 running to packed houses, Vivek is over the moon. We spoke to the actor to know more about Kaal and its aftereffects. Two radically different films of yours- Grand Masti and Krrish 3 - have hit the bull’s eye at the box-office. While Grand Masti was thrashed by critics for its in-your-face sexual content, Krrish 3 got rave reviews. How do you interpret the success? Frankly speaking, I don’t interpret this success in any manner whatsoever. I am a very happy-go-lucky guy. I leave the interpretation to all intelligent critics. Let me reiterate, I don’t interpret the success of my movies. I just enjoy it. And success has no formula. It never had any. Fair enough. Tell us how did Krrish 3 happen? Duggu (Hrithik) called me and said Papa (Rakesh Roshan) wants to meet me. I immediately came in to meet Rakesh uncle in this very office where we are seated right now. As soon as I met Rakesh uncle, he handed me Krrish 3’s script to read it. I just couldn’t believe that he had handed me Krrish 3’s script. I was so excited that I just sat down and read the script cover to cover. It was such an incredible script that the first question I asked Rakesh uncle was ‘How will you make this film in India.’ He said ‘We will but tell me do you want play the role of Kaal.’ I said yes without batting an eye-lid and Rakesh uncle heaved a sigh of relief because he thought I would say no because it’s a negative role. So Rakesh Roshan himself thought you would say no because it’s a negative role. Why didn’t you have any apprehensions then? See, it’s an anti-hero role. Kaal is a powerful character in itself. When you talk about Krrish, everyone knows he is a superhero and the kind of things he can achieve with his power. But nothing is known about Kaal. No one knows the extent of his powers. Why he is fighting. So you get to see the growth and rise of the anti hero in this film. That is the biggest advantage of this role. That’s why I enjoyed doing Kaal. Another big moment for me was when Rakesh uncle told me that he wrote this role keeping me in my mind. The only apprehension I had at that point was whether I would be able to do justice to this role or not. What were the challenges you faced while playing this role? It took me three and a half months of preparation to get under the skin of Kaal. But the biggest challenge was shooting in the metal suit that you see me wearing in the film. The entire climax was shot in Ramoji Rao film city in the month of March when the temperature outside was 48 degrees and I was wearing a 28kg metal costume in the sweltering heat. Meri band baj gayi thi (I was in a bad shape). It felt like I was inside a pressure cooker. I also found it very difficult to walk with all the metal around me. And then I had some strenuous action sequences with Hrithik. For every kick and punch I had to spend at least 10 times more energy because of my heavy metal suit and to top it all the heat outside was sapping. That’s the physical aspect. How difficult was playing Kaal mentally? Very difficult. I am a jolly good person. I talk to everyone on sets from the spot boy to the director. I don’t get enraged so easily. So Kaal was really contrary to my nature. It was difficult for me to bring out all this vengeance and hatred through my eyes. It was not a switch -off or switch- on kind of a character. So 15 minutes before the shoot I used to go inside my vanity van and stand about two inches away from the mirror and used to keep thinking about anger, vengeance and revenge. As soon I saw even a small flicker of these emotions in my eyes I used to go out, insulate myself from my surroundings and get ready for my shot. Till my shot was cleared, I would not talk to anyone so as to avoid getting distracted. And now imagine doing the same 10 times a day. It was very hard. As an actor what space do you find yourself in today? I am in a happy space today. I am getting roles that I love doing. What I am particularly happy about is the wide range of roles I am getting to explore. For instance, Grand Masti and Krrish 3 are two films that are poles apart. While in Grand Masti, I played a buffoon or a monkey like character where I was running around and in Krrish I am the prince of darkness who is the master of the universe. So as an actor I am in a very happy space. But don’t you want to do solo hero-centric movies? The last solo film Jayantabhai ki luv story ended with disastrous effects (laughs). Today it’s all about doing good characters and enjoying it to good effect. Things like solo and multi starrer are obsolete and they don’t matter really. Audiences today have grown beyond all that. For example, a film like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Is it a solo or multi-starrer? If it’s a solo, who is the hero? Or if it’s a multi-starrer, who is the lead hero and who is the second lead? Audiences today have grown beyond all these things. What next after Krrish 3? I am going to take a chutti (holiday) now. A much deserved one I feel. (winks)