When producers told Apoorva Lakhia 'Replace Vivek Oberoi or we won’t work with you' after the Salman Khan controversy

Vivek Oberoi played the iconic role of Maya Dolas in Shootout at Lokhandwala.

Vivek Oberoi in a still from Shootout at Lokhandwala

Apoorva Lakhia, the director of the 2007 action film Shootout in Lokhandwala cast Vivek Oberoi in a pivotal part. To make his case, the actor held a news conference and accused superstar Salman Khan of threatening him. Unofficially, people stopped working with Vivek. Apoorva started filming with the actor, whom several producers advised him to replace. Sanjay Gupta, Sanjay Dutt, and Suniel Shetty were among the few who stood by the filmmaker at this time.

The Lokhandwala Complex Gun Battle of 1991 that inspired the Shootout at Lokhandwala took place in Mumbai. Vivek played a prominent gangster, while Sanjay, Suniel Shetty, and Arbaaz Khan were the police officers. Tusshar Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Aditya Lakhia, Shabbir Ahluwalia, and Amitabh Bachchan were also part of the ensemble cast.

The director opened up to YouTuber Siddharth Kannan about the intense strain he was under during an interview. Apoorva said that when he cast Vivek, a lot of producers called him and asked to replace the actor or they wouldn't work with him. But he couldn't just back out now that he had made a promise to Vivek. And Apoorva had the backing of Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, and Sanjay Gupta. The filmmaker understood that whoever turned him down would return if Shootout at Lokhandwala was successful.

Apoorva continued by saying that Vivek was a good actor. No matter what he did, it was wrong, and he shouldn't have done it, but that doesn't negate the fact that he has skill. Because of his acting skills, Apoorva has decided to rope him in. Personality is not a factor in the filmmaker's recruiting decisions. Vivek is an expert, and he had a great reading session with him. In Apoorva's opinion, Vivek did an outstanding job.

The action movie received numerous nominations after its premiere. In light of Priyanka Chopra Jonas' recent comments about leaving Bollywood for Hollywood due to a lack of employment opportunities, Vivek related his own similar story. He said that there was industry-wide lobbying to keep him out of future endeavours. For a while, he did nothing except sit at home before pursuing business and charity opportunities elsewhere.

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