Being a movie star is not all about living in luxury or basking in the love of your fans, as life in the limelight makes actors extremely vulnerable as well.
"A star's life is not all about riding a fancy car and being popular among people. People don't realise that they are also very vulnerable and emotional. They live their lives in the limelight which is not all about adulation and screaming fans," said Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi.
He insists that it is this vulnerability which
connects him with his title role in the upcoming film 'Prince', where he plays a smart thief whose memory is stolen.
"Prince appears invincible and a tough guy who can take on six guys. But he is also vulnerable. Some body has stolen his memory and he doesn't know who he is and what he is capable of," Vivek told PTI.
The 33-year-old actor insists that stars, popular as they are, pay the price for it when they are subjected to harsh criticism and scrutiny by the media.
"An actor's life is about critics, about the media being harsh on you, printing false stories about you.
Unfortunately in our country there is a bad trend - guilty untill proven innocent, not innocent untill proven guilty," he said.
The actor has had his share of criticisms after he called a press conference in 2003 where he spoke against superstar Salman Khan. Vivek has been courting controversies ever since.
Earlier this year, the actor was accused of stalking former lover Aishwarya Rai after he attended a few parties and events where the actress was also invited.
"Nowadays everything is trial by media. Unless the media is very responsible, they can do a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people involved. It has a good and a bad side,like its an amazing medium to connect with fans or promote
films," said Vivek.
His next film 'Prince' is an action thriller produced by Kumar Taurani, and will hit theatres on April 9. Besides Vivek, the film stars three not-so-familiar faces Nandana Sen,
Neeru Singh and Aruna Shields as love interests for the lead character. Why was no established Bollywood actress signed opposite him?
"The film's story is such that after Prince loses his memory, all three women claim to be his lady love Maya. If a star was cast in one of the roles, people would have immediately known that she is the real Maya and the suspense
would have been lost," said Vivek.
In the recent past, big budgeted action movies have not been a success at the box office. But Vivek claims that 'Prince' is completely different from any other movie made in Bollywood.
"The biggest difference is that 'Prince' is not extravagant, the expenses have been made only where it was needed. An international crew was hired and it was edited in Paris, which has given a Bollywood film the look of Hollywood
for the first time. The film also has a good story," said the actor.
After 'Prince', Vivek will be seen in his "mentor" Ram Gopal Verma's 'Rakta Charitra', which will be released in two parts.