Vivek Oberoi B’Day SPL: Vivek Oberoi turns 50 on September 3, 2026, and few Bollywood careers have been discussed as much for one off-screen moment as his. When Vivek made his debut with Company in 2002, he was immediately seen as one of Hindi cinema’s brightest new actors. Saathiya strengthened that image, and suddenly he looked like someone who could move easily between intense roles and romantic leads.
Then came 2003. At the time, Vivek was romantically linked with Aishwarya Rai, who had earlier been in a relationship with Salman Khan. What followed became one of Bollywood’s most talked-about controversies: Vivek held a press conference in which he publicly accused Salman of repeatedly calling and threatening him. More than two decades later, Vivek has repeatedly suggested that the episode had a serious impact on his career.
What Was Vivek Oberoi And Aishwarya Rai’s Relationship?
Vivek and Aishwarya were linked romantically in the early 2000s and later worked together in Kyun! Ho Gaya Na…. The relationship came after Aishwarya’s highly publicised breakup with Salman Khan. Neither Vivek nor Aishwarya built their relationship into a major public spectacle at the time, but the association became impossible to separate from what happened next.
What Happened At Vivek Oberoi’s 2003 Press Conference?
On April 1, 2003, Vivek called a press conference and accused Salman Khan of making repeated phone calls and threatening him. Vivek alleged that Salman had contacted him dozens of times and had reacted angrily over his association with Aishwarya.
Those were allegations made publicly by Vivek at the time. The press conference instantly became one of the biggest Bollywood controversies of the decade and placed Vivek directly against one of the industry’s most powerful stars.
Did The Salman Khan Controversy Affect Vivek Oberoi’s Career?
Vivek has long maintained that his professional life changed after the episode. In later interviews, he said he went from receiving awards and major opportunities to feeling that powerful people in the film industry had decided he should no longer get work.
He once described himself as becoming “the guy nobody was supposed to work with”. Vivek also pointed to the period after Shootout At Lokhandwala as particularly frustrating. Despite the film performing strongly and his portrayal of Maya Dolas receiving attention, he said he spent around a year without meaningful work afterwards. That does not prove that a single person or controversy alone caused his career slowdown.
However, Vivek himself has consistently described the period as one in which lobbying, industry politics and professional isolation affected him.
Did Salman Khan End Vivek Oberoi’s Career?
Producer Shailendra Singh recently recalled Salman being angry while Vivek’s press conference was unfolding and expressed his own belief that the fallout affected Vivek’s opportunities. But he also acknowledged that he could not know this with certainty.
There has never been a judicial or independently established finding showing that Salman personally orchestrated the end of Vivek’s Bollywood career. What is established is that Vivek’s career trajectory changed considerably after the controversy and that Vivek himself believes powerful industry figures worked against him.
What Happened Between Vivek Oberoi And Aishwarya Rai?
Vivek and Aishwarya eventually went their separate ways. Aishwarya later married Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, while Vivek married Priyanka Alva in 2010. Years later, Vivek largely stopped publicly revisiting the relationship itself and instead spoke about what the larger episode taught him about heartbreak, loneliness and resilience. In a more recent reflection, he said he did not want to keep living in fear of heartbreak simply because he had experienced it before.
How Did Vivek Oberoi Rebuild His Career?
Vivek never completely disappeared from acting. He continued with films including Omkara, Shootout At Lokhandwala, Vivegam, Lucifer and later streaming projects such as Inside Edge and Indian Police Force.
At the same time, he increasingly built a parallel life in business and investments. Vivek has said that while acting remains his passion, business gives him the financial freedom to choose projects rather than depend entirely on film offers.
One Press Conference That Followed Him For Decades
The 2003 episode has followed Vivek Oberoi longer than almost any individual film in his career. He arrived in Bollywood with one of the strongest debuts of his generation, became romantically linked with one of the industry’s biggest stars, publicly challenged another superstar and then watched his professional momentum change dramatically.
At 50, however, Vivek’s story is no longer only about that controversy. He continued acting, built businesses outside cinema and increasingly speaks about the episode not as something that ended his life, but as something he survived. Whether the press conference alone changed the course of his career can never be established with certainty. But it undeniably became the moment after which Bollywood began looking at Vivek Oberoi very differently.
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Sunny Singh is a Journalist and Content Writer with a strong affinity for Bollywood and Hollywood insiders, music and more. Somewhat of a writer and poet himself, he thrives on giving life to words and deliver all you need to know about the entertainment sector.
