Lootere actor Vivek Gomber says he didn’t get work for 18 months despite Court’s Oscar buzz, everything was ‘quiet’: ‘It was little painful’

“It felt like everybody knew what was happening with Court but then sometimes you also think maybe it is a small circle, how many people really care,” he wonders as he opens up about his career, which got a wider push when Vivek found massive love for Rohena Gera’s Sir, in which he co-starred with Tillotama Shome and has now seemingly reached a wider audience with his latest Disney Plus Hotstar show Lootere.

In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Vivek Gomber talks about working on Lootere, fighting industry stereotypes, the long “painful” waiting period he underwent and how he is eagerly awaiting the release of his most commercial film, Jigraa, headlined by Alia Bhatt.

Edited excerpts:

Vivek Gomber in Lootere. (Photo: Jai Mehta/Instagram)

Lootere is a clear departure from the work you have done before, from its scale to flamboyance. But did you feel the industry was offering you more of the same what you had previously excelled in?

It is tricky because it is a business, I understand what people are trying to do. You got to relay on casting. I have been here for a while, and I can tell you that things are getting better. Everyone’s becoming more professional. It is easy to complain and feel let down, but the business is tough. I don’t think you can take it personally… You have to wait, be ready mentally and physically and I am fortunate that some of these people have seen me on stage. It is not good to be bitter, it is very boring.

Was there a time when rejections unsettled you?

It comes and goes. You have a period when you are employed and then afterwards a film takes a little bit of time to finish. So it is always hard to finish one job and start another, you have to mentally have space when you are not employed, what your life plans are. When those periods are long it starts to challenge you, pushes you in a corner. So, yes, this happens. It is not like people don’t care, but there is so much happening in everyone’s life that not every project will get its due, or not every actor is remembered the way… You have to accept it, not in a passive way, but that it is a part of life.

Can you place us in the time frame when this phase you mentioned lasted too long?

After we released Court. It was my first film as a producer, I acted in it as well. It was a big, first-time thing when we released it and then it got selected for Oscars from India, so we had that journey as well. But by the time all the duties got done with, it was mid 2015 and after that I went back to theatre because for 18 months I couldn’t get any work. I thought Court would put me back a little bit in the game to at least get work or a call, but it was quite quiet during those days. That was a little painful.

So, 2016 was tough and 2017 was ok, but by the end of that year, I started working on a play and while I was doing that, someone must have told Rohena Gera about me, and she was looking for the main lead of her film Sir at that point of time. So then I started getting ready to audition for the film. In 2017-18 I was prepping for The Disciple. It was just that I thought I would get more work after Court, but that didn’t happen. I don’t know what I was supposed to do, I am also not on social media, so maybe I made some mistakes… I don’t know.

I guess you have to reach out and expect that people don’t know you, because it felt like everybody knew what was happening with Court but then sometimes you also think maybe it is a small circle, how many people really care. It is fair, they are not supposed to, we are just hoping that they get attention because we all want to make work for the audience, so we all try.

Your projects, Lootere, Court, The Discipline, Sir, can be called ‘prestige’ projects. Does the idea of mainstream cinema not excite the actor in you?

Not at all, I would love to be a part of such projects. But it has got to be the right project, you have to be at the right place, earn the right to be in these big productions because everybody there has a little draw. You have to be working for a while and someone has to back you because these producers and investors put in big numbers, and you have to respect that. I am waiting, very patiently.

I have actually done a film, which is my most commercial project, I just finished it a month ago. It is Vasan Bala’s Jigraa and I am a part of the ensemble. So that was a blast. Vasan has also seen me on stage, way before his debut film Peddlers was made. I was very excited to work with him and the minute this casting call came, I was so thrilled. I would want to do work that is seen by as many people. But I don’t want to do something where I am out of place, because the camera sees everything.