Vivek Oberoi: I did get upset when getting a challan became a headline

Actor Vivek Oberoi shares how he felt when his silly mistake of not wearing a helmet and getting penalised for it became a talking point.

After getting penalised for riding his bike without wearing a helmet, actor Vivek Oberoi has found a way to take it in jest, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t get upset when his “silly mistake” became a talking point.

In February, actor Vivek Oberoi was fined for not wearing a helmet and a mask during a bike ride in Mumbai

Last month, on Valentine’s Day, the actor along with his wife Priyanka Alva Oberoi had gone out for a “refreshing joyride”, a short video of which Oberoi shared on Twitter. Later, he was fined for not wearing a helmet and mask.

Quoting one headline that read, ‘Vivek Oberoi in trouble for not wearing a helmet, the actor says, “It was the same week when I announced a scholarship worth ₹16 crore for children belonging to farmer families. But what was interesting and became national news, which was spoken about everywhere, was that I was fined for not wearing a helmet one day.”

While he doesn’t want to defend his actions, the 44-year-old wonders, “how many people causally don’t wear a helmet” in the country.

He rues, “I was singled out. It doesn’t become a news when you don’t wear a helmet while riding a bike. I did get a little upset thinking that instead of focussing on the scholarship, which can actually help change the lives of people, the focus is on a silly mistake that I made.”

Lately, Oberoi has been referring to the incident by making funny videos, and urging people to take all precautions to be safe on the road. His experience of working in the industry has helped him get the art of turning negative into positive.

“Over the years, I have developed a mindset to take a problem, something negative and turn it into something positive,” says the son of actor Suresh Oberoi.

That is when the actor, known for films such as Saathiya (2002), Dum (2003) Yuva (2004) and PM Narendra Modi (2019), came up with the thought of taking his mistake and using it to give out a message.

“They were right. I should have worn my helmet. So, I thought let’s use it to have fun, and at the same time give out a positive message,” he ends.