After keeping a low profile for some time, Vivek Oberoi has been in the news recently for the much-awaited film Shootout at Lokhandwala, where he once again plays the gangster Maya Dolas. We spoke to him about his character and experiences in the movie. Here is the excerpt.

Q: Firstly, Vivek tell us how does it feel to be back in a gangster role after your debut Company?
A: Yeah. Firstly, it is a huge compliment that people still remember Company. It has been almost five years and people still keep talking about Company and gangster roles. It is really nice to be that remembered and to feel that people found the role so memorable.

While they are both gangsters, they are poles apart too. There is absolutely nothing common between Maya and Chandru. If you put both their pictures side by side, you will see that there is nothing common between the way they look or they way they try to portray. So it is exciting.

Q: Did you go through any homework for playing the character of Maya Dolas?
A: See, a character like this requires homework, no? Because what happens is that when you are trying to portray a character in a film, especially when it is a real life character, you got to have your homework correct. You have to sit down and work, get the entire background, get the entire information.

You have to try to understand the mindset of the person, try to understand why he did what he did. And then after that you will have to join that to a little bit of creative liberty, to a little bit of director's vision, to a little bit if the legend and stories around him.

It has been 16 years that he has passed way. So all that combined together comes out on the screen as Maya Dolas.

Q: So, did you meet with the friends or family members of Maya Dolas?
A: I met quiet a few people who were connected to him though I do not have the liberty to speak about it. I have met people connected to them, interviewed them, interviewed cops who were there at the time of the shootout, who actually and eventually killed him.

I met general convicts and murderers to try and understand the mind-sets of the psyche. Also we met people who worked with Maya and worked against Maya at that time. I actually tried to get a feel of him. I went to the places where he grew up, where he actually started out with criminal activities. I went through the police files and things like that.

Q: Were you aware of this incident earlier?
A: Yeah, I knew about the shootout earlier, but not in so much detail. It was only after I got into this character, that I came to know in so much detail. It was fascinating to know so many things.

Q: Any incident that struck you while you were discovering things about Maya Dolas?
A: During the homework I discovered a lot of things. Like, I met inspector Quavi, a daring inspector and a fascinating man.

Two bullets had hit him – one on his chest and one on his arm. The one, which hit his chest, was stopped by the bullet proof, which he was wearing, but the one, which hit his arm, tore away his nerves. It has been 16 years since then, but he still visits the Nanavati Hospital for his physiotherapy.

The bullet caused so much harm to him. So it gave me an idea and perspective that for us it was an incident and a story and we all moved on. But, for that cop that day is still there in his arm. So that shootout is alive in his arm

Q: Tell us about your look in the movie.
A: Well, we tried to create a sense of realism, which Maya was, and mix it with a little bit of creative liberty, a bit of legend. We tried to create the awe of Maya. Everybody looks at him with awe. He is a larger than life figure. So, the costume designer, Apoorva the director and I worked together on that and the little small minute details, which hopefully people would notice in the film.

Q: How comfortable were you with the lingo?
A: The lingo was cool. We had a very good writer Raj Vasant on board who he did most of the dialogues. But most of the lingo was easy. We had to get that Bambiya lingo with a little bit of that Maharastrian drawl in it. That's all.

Q: Since now you know so much about him, how much do you sympathize with the character of Maya Dolas?
A: See, it is very easy to analyse people, but once you get into the depth of things and start understanding things, you will find that it is difficult to decide as to whether to kill criminals or crime. Is it because of crime that a criminal arises or is it because of criminals that crime breeds?

When I talk to policemen, I feel for them. Being humans, they are faced with such tough situations. They are blamed for so many things, but eventually they should realize that even they are bound. So sometimes even they break the rules to uphold them.

Q: So, who do you favour, the criminals or the policemen?
A: I sympathize more with the policemen. I feel that they are the unsung heroes and I feel that the country's best police are the Mumbai Police. They have to struggle so much, they risk their lives for us, but yet we are thankless to them. There are so many rules and restrictions that they have to work under.

Q: You seem to be sharing a good rapport with your onscreen gangster friends? How good was this chemistry off screen?
A: Excellent. I think it was pretty difficult to compare our onscreen and off screen chemistry. We had lots of fun while shooting. Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt are very warm kind of people, very cool. So they set the tone for the entire production.

They are great people to work with, fantastic producers who would provide anything for creativity to grow under them. Apoorva is a super director, cool guy, funny, chilled out and I think as a director of this film, he is excellent and he is really gone beyond himself.

So, because of this and all of us guys hanging out, the mood of the sets used to be something else, there used to be full dhamal. Tusshar, Shabbir and Rohit, we all have become good friends now.

Q: How do you find the producers, Ekta and Shobha Kapoor, who are leading in television production?
A: Balaji is great company and I think they have been very supportive, they have a very good relationship with White Feather and that is why Shootout.... has been so comfortable. - Mili Swarnakar