Once Farah Khan's assistant, this star served tea, cleaned rooms; is now one of India's richest actors with ₹1200 crore

This actor served tea as Farah Khan's assistant, was thrown out of films but still managed to build an empire worth crores.

In a world where star kids are often dismissed as “born privileged,” not every journey begins under a spotlight. Some choose to hide their lineage completely, slipping into the industry through the side door rather than the red carpet. One such actor started at the very bottom — sweeping rehearsal rooms and fetching endless cups of chai. He worked as Farah Khan's assistant and is now worth ₹1200 crore. He is Vivek Oberoi.

This star worked as Farah Khan's assistant before acting in films.

Vivek Oberoi worked as Farah Khan's assistant

On a recent episode of Mashable India’s The Bombay Journey, Vivek Oberoi, son of veteran actor Suresh Oberoi, revealed how he started as an assistant without disclosing his surname. He said, "I used to assist Farah Khan for a long time. I started with cleaning the rehearsal rooms and bringing chai to all the dancers, and from there I went up. I never told anybody who my dad was." Back then, no one would have imagined that the quiet assistant would one day rise to become one of India’s richest actors.

Vivek kickstarted his acting career with Ram Gopal Varma's Company in 2002, which went on to become a commercial and critical success. The actor was described as the next big thing in Bollywood after this movie. He continued to rise to fame with hits like Saathiya, Masti and Omkara, positioning himself as one of the brightest young stars in Bollywood. But a feud with Salman Khan set his career back.

In 2003, the actor called a press conference alleging harassment from Salman Khan, and this incident changed the course of his career. The actor admitted that he was boycotted from the industry in a podcast with Prakhar Gupta and said, “A point came during that time where everyone was boycotting me left and right. No one was ready to work with me, and I was thrown out of the films I had already signed. Moreover, I used to get a lot of calls threatening me. These calls were made to my sister, father and mother as well.”

However, Vivek didn't give up and continued to work in Malayalam and Telugu films such as Rakta Charithra and Lucifer. He also switched to OTT by starring in web series such as Inside Edge. In 2013, the actor delivered two back-to-back hits with Grand Masti and Krrish 3. Today, the actor remains one of India's richest, an empire built outside cinema

Most of Vivek's wealth comes from his real estate company, Karma Infrastructure, and his event management company, Mega Entertainment. He is also the co-founder of Svarnim University and an angel investor in several start-ups. He is the only Indian actor to be featured in Forbes’ 40 Under 40 Heroes of Philanthropy list. Multiple reports, including The Statesman, have listed his net worth as ₹1200 crore, making him among the richest actors in India, with his wealth exceeding actors like Ranbir Kapoor ( ₹350 crore), Allu Arjun ( ₹340 crore), Prabhas ( ₹250 crore) and even superstars like Rajinikanth ( ₹400 crore).

Vivek Oberoi’s upcoming movies

Vivek is currently awaiting the release of his upcoming movie Mastiii 4, which is scheduled to release in theatres on November 21. Apart from this, he has two major films in the pipeline, including Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit, which also stars Prabhas and Triptii Dimri, and Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, which features Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi and Sunny Deol.