Remember the scene in Sholay when Jai goes to meet Basanti’s mausi to convince her to let Veeru marry her niece? Vivek Oberoi decided to enact that scene, but it wasn’t for a film.
However, few Hindi film scenes work in real life and his little stunt has backfired. But there’s a bigger boo boo. Vivek did this for Sanjay Dutt — a man known for guarding his private life ferociously. Dutt would’ve tolerated such an act from a concerned friend, but Vivek isn’t a buddy and from the looks of it, has over-stepped his limit! According to a well-placed source, Oberoi recently met Manayata’s estranged mother and put forth a marriage proposal on behalf of Dutt. However, unlike the grateful Veeru, Sanju views Vivek’s gesture as meddling in his private life. Especially since Manayata’s parents separated when she was nine and she opted to live with her father. Mana hasn’t been in touch with her mother since.
Says a friend close to Sanjay, “Vivek knows Manayata’s family as he was friends with her since the days they used to work out at Barbarian Gym (Lokhandwala Complex).
At one time, Vivek even tried to woo Mana. He would send her flowers and even bring personal CDs to the gym and play her songs like, ‘Mana ho tum behad haseen’. However, Vivek backed off when he realised Mana was dating Dutt, but he thought nothing of giving her some advice.”
Apparently, when Sanju was in jail recently, Vivek sent Mana an SMS advising her to patch up with her mother. “He went on to say that he was a very family-oriented person and gives part of his earnings to his parents. Finally, he asked if he could visit her like some other friends, including Zayed Khan and Sophie Chowdhry,” says the source. Then, a few days before Shootout director Apoorva Lakhia’s birthday party (recently held at Zayed Khan’s bungalow), Vivek went to meet Mana’s mother. “He asked her who she liked better in Shootout At Lokhandwala — Sanju or Vivek? Then he started building a case for Dutt.
He told her Sanju was a good guy with a heart of gold and that she should accept Mana’s relationship with him. What made it worse was that Vivek uss mein bhi Sanju ka band bajaa raha tha — on one hand, he was praising himself and on the other giving his own two bits against Sanju.
Mana’s mother, who has never approved of the relationship, didn’t need any reminders. Vivek only angered her more and she snapped, ‘Woh bewakoof ladki hai (She’s a foolish girl)’,” adds the source.
The source continues, “Sanju came to know of the incident recently, but he’s keeping his cool. Vivek went around telling people that he has taken a marriage proposal for Sanju to Mana’s mother, and Dutt is naturally upset.
At Apu’s party, Vivek kept trying to justify his actions to Sanju, but Dutt ignored him. Finally, Sanju told him in a calm but cold manner, ‘Don’t mess around with me’ and walked off.”
But, wonder of wonders, that wasn’t the end to this bizarre episode, courtesy Oberoi! Says the source, “After that incident, Vivek waited outside Sanju’s building for the next three days (between 6 and 8 pm) for him to return for shooting.
He wanted to apologise, but the moment he spotted Sanju, he drove away. Vivek couldn’t muster courage to talk to him. So they haven’t met since the party.” Sanjay Dutt and Vivek Oberoi were unavailable for comment.
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