After Company and Saathiya, the stage was set for Vivek Oberoi to go reach for the stars. *car crash sound effect* And then happened a press conference (and also, Salman Khan) that virtually killed any chances of the actor making it big in Bollywood. 

For those of you who were still in your nappies back then, we’re referring to March 31, 2003 when the new kid on the block alleged that Salman threatened him with 41 phone calls thruogh the night of March 29. 

He claimed that the Sultan actor even accused him of “physical relationships with Aishwarya Rai, Diya Mirza, Rani Mukherjee and Somy Ali, whom I met some seven years ago.”

But instead of the sympathy that Vivek sought through this gimmick, he was criticised for pulling off such a cheap publicity stunt. As a result, not only did his promising career go for a toss but so did his love life, social life and almost everything else. 

But wait, what if he didn’t have that brainfade and not call that conference? How different would his life have turned out barring that moment of sheer stupidity? Ahead of the release of the actor’s Bank Chor this Friday, we get wishful and imagine a world with a successful Vivek Oberoi.

Big banners

With the odds in his favour, Vivek Oberoi could even have been YRF’s poster boy. “Adi (Aditya Chopra) said I could be Shah Rukh Khan,” Vivek had once revealed. 

So imagine all of Fool N Final, Kaal, Mission Istanbul, Kisna and Prince being produced by the banner. 

No doubt they would still have been bad movies, but they would at least have been marketed well enough to earn our lad a couple of Filmfares.

Thank your stars the real Shah Rukh Khan!  

Old flames

So the press conference that changed the course of Vivek’s life had ironically resulted in Aishwarya Rai distancing herself from him as well. No woman, yes cry! 

But in a parallel universe (read Vivek’s head), he might still be with the former Miss World. Though how we could not tolerate seeing the duo even on the screen, with movies like Kyun Ho Gaya Na, is a different story.

Of friends and foes

The Yuva actor also said that Salman’s brother Sohail Khan, who was once his best friend, never forgave him for the entire fiasco and he still regrets it. And it wasn’t just Sohail, Vivek lost many social circles in the aftermath.

A best case scenario, however, would have had Sohail cast his ‘best friend’ in many of his future superhits to come. Vivek was destined to be Dabangg and shine! 

Eid releases

In this fantasy world, Vivek’s Bank Chor, which notably comes in not too far away from Salman’s Tubelight, would have been an equally awaited release — songs from Vivek’s movies being played in all stereos (especially auto rickshaws), fan clubs booking entire theatres for the release and what not. 

How he wishes that were true!

Have something more to talk about Vivek Oberoi/Salman Khan/Aishwarya Rai? Let us know in the comments section below.