'Ash is bigger than any movie'

Viviek Oberoi talks about Aishwarya Rai, the Salman tapes and his current release Home Delivery

Perhaps his second name could be controversy. Be it Aishwarya Rai, his social work or his metamorphosis from the foot-in-the-mouth guy (remember the episode when he had the entire media ridiculing him after he called a press conference to tell how Salman Khan harassed him one fine night?) to a diplomatic young man, Viviek Oberoi.

?I didn't figure anywhere in the whole setup," he says, talking about the tapes controversy.

?There is no reason why I would have gone to the media with this. These days I'd rather talk to the press about my films and my charity work."

He further elaborates about how because of ?media reports' of his good work he managed to help a certain little girl with her heart surgery.

Reports of Jayalalitha's (chief minister of Tamil Nadu, India) allegations about the minimal work he did during tsunami relief operations after adopting an entire village are happily forgotten.

?For me, media is a means to communicate to my fans of what I do," he says. Ask him about his personal equation with Aishwarya Rai and he is quick on the rebound. The two have not been seen together in a film since Kyun ... Ho Gaya Na bombed at the box office last year. His answer is frank but clever too.

?We do not need to be cast together to prove ourselves. Ash is bigger than any movie. Look at Kajrare ? (the hit song from the film Bunty Aur Babli). The song is more prominent than the entire film! That's fame."

Speaking about Home Delivery he says: ?Home Delivery is to release soon. It is a kind of comedy film that you could watch with family. I am quite excited to be a part of it."

Then there is Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. ?Agreed that I play Keshav (Cassio in Othello) whose role in the story might not be as meaty as that of Ajay (Devgan) and Saif (Ali Khan). But there's no way I'd say no to a Shakespearean adaptation. Rules are meant to be broken.

?I was launched in a two-hero film (Company). But I made sure that I wore really bad clothes and even made myself look dark just because I believed in the character and felt it required these changes.

"And if that worked, I don't see any reason why this role shouldn't work either."