Exclusive! Vivek Oberoi: Transition for actors between OTT and film is going to be easier than between TV and film

Vivek Oberoi turned heads back in 2017 when he played the main antagonist in Amazon Prime Video's Inside Edge. The actor has been playing this role for three seasons now and has been lauded for his incredible performance as Vikrant Dhawan. Now, in the recently released season three of Inside Edge, viewers got to see the humane side of his character, which surprised people. As Vivek is riding high on the success of the series, the actor spoke exclusively to OTTPlay about playing this role for five years. The actor even shared his thoughts on the booming OTT space and actors getting a chance to prove their mettle. 

Excerpts from the interview below...

Congratulations on the success of Inside Edge 3 and also that you have completed almost two decades in the industry as well.

Thank you so much on both counts. I mean really enjoying this, this love and appreciation that we're getting for Inside Edge and Vikrant Dhawan, the characters being appreciated so much. I can't tell you how happy I am right now. It's always nerve-racking when you're coming back with another season, thinking "will we be able to achieve season one, season two, or season three, or not. People might reject it or not like it." You feel scared, you feel insecure. But when you get this kind of overwhelming response to the show for your character and your performance, both from critics and fans, it feels amazing. It feels like the perfect happy moment that you could strive for.

Vikrant Dhawan's is one of the most interesting character arcs to be seen in Inside Edge. This season we saw the character's backstory and also his humane side. So what was the most challenging aspect of playing such a challenging character for three seasons?

So, like we all joke and say, "it's a kanda (onion) character, right?" There are so many layers, you have to keep peeling the onion. But the thing with Vikrant is that, from season one, it's been a challenge because, in a world that is very real, you have to play a character that's larger than life. He projects himself; he's always acting, even in the show. During the show, he's acting, he's trying to impress people, he's trying to intimidate people, he's trying to project more than that, and he's playing mind games with people all the time. So that's a difficult one to play. Then, whatever happens with his journeys, keep the essence of that character in mind, within that thin line, because you can go into the overacting zone very easily with that. So, to calibrate that is always a challenge as an actor; it keeps you completely on your toes. Then in season three, it was tough because of two things. One is the actual rise after the fall. If you see it closely, you'll see some maturity that I've brought into Vikrant in the way he behaves. I've tamed the arrogance and made it more mature, more calculated and sharper. He doesn't want to make the same mistake again. Last time he got taken by surprise, and now he's not allowing that. So I kind of developed that. And the second thing is that you see Vikrant as who he was before, what happened to him, how he was bullied, how they took away his power. When that happens to you in life, you find different ways to empower yourself. And Vikrant chose a negative way to empower himself. The hunger for power stems from that experience, and he's taken it to another extreme. So bringing all of that into the character and trying to play it within the script was a challenge, but I'm super happy about it.

Knowing that it's a tough role, how do you switch off from the character after the shoot gets wrapped?

I do get a lot into my characters. I have a whole process where I write an autobiography of each character. I've written from the day Vikrant was born till the time the series starts, what the process is for him, and that's all my own internal process. So I feel like I know these characters really well, and when you're performing very intense scenes, sometimes it affects you, right? By the time you try to get out of it, the character stays in your head. Earlier, it used to be difficult for me. But now I've got the best, smoothest, easiest antidote, which is my kids. So I just went to have a bedtime story session with them. I put them to bed, I played with them, had conversations with them, and life is amazing. It just resets me back to Vivek Oberoi, back to who I am as a father, a husband, a son, and a person rather than an actor. It resets me very easily. So yeah, I'm totally using my kids.

Inside Edge was among the first OTT series that came out in India, nearly five years ago. So did you anticipate this back then, when the first season was released?

To be honest with you, when I started, everybody was saying, "Tu kya kar raha hai yaar?" I think it was the first mainstream actor to get into space. And it was like, "Why are you doing this?" And what is this OTT? And what is Amazon Prime? What would people think?" But I just believed in it, and I was right to believe it. And of course, after the phenomenal success and everything, people started saying, "Chalo, you are ahead of the curve. Isne aage ka socha", and all of that. So people appreciate success and write off failure. Luckily, Inside Edge was a huge success. Not that we anticipated it would be so big. None of us, I think, thought that it would become such an iconic show in its own right. Now 240 countries have Inside Edge released across the platform, and that's amazing. I mean, countries that don't even play cricket, like Eastern Europe, are writing. Fan messages are coming from them; they're saying "we love the show." So it's taken on a life of its own. Of course, as you mentioned, we were shooting in Tbilisi for season two. In the middle of that shoot, suddenly, it wasn't a day off. We're all gone out to party. The whole gang, all of us, 30-35 of us, have gone out to party. In the middle of the party, Karan Anshuman, the creator, stops everybody and says, "Guys, I have some news." I asked, "What?" And he reads the message. He says, "We've been nominated, the first-ever Indian content to be nominated for an International Emmy." I was like, "Really? Internationally Emmy?" Then all of us were celebrating. So it was an amazing experience to go through that. Of course, we were bummed that we lost to Money Heist. But just being nominated was an incredible feeling.

How do you see the whole OTT space in India and your journey within it?

I think it's an amazing space. The more it tribes, the more people that join, the more talent that comes. Pratik Gandhi is such a wonderful actor, and I love his work; that's why I keep giving his example. Look at what this industry has brought, like Pratik Gandhi, who comes in and shines. Like him, there are just so many talented people. Siddhant Chaturvedi, who is doing so well now, started with Inside Edge. Tanuj Virwani: This was a breakthrough role for him, and look how well he's doing. My cousin Akshay Oberoi, after his first film failed, was going through such a tough time. And look, now he's one of the busiest actors in the country, doing more than 10-12 series and films. He's just working around the clock, and I feel really happy for these guys. It's an amazing experience to see such wonderful talent being nurtured so much.

Given that OTT has boomed up, do you think it has come as a boon for actors who, otherwise, were lost in the feature film space?

Sure, I think features have their own amazing place; that's always going to be our first love. That's where I started my career, and everything I am today I owe to that industry and to what the audiences in the feature films have given me. But OTT has its own special space, too. I think they complement each other beautifully. I think that the transition for actors between OTT and film and film and OTT is going to be much easier than it used to be between TV and film.