20 years of Company: Vivek Oberoi reveals what he learnt from Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn and Ram Gopal Varma

Ram Gopal Varma’s Company, starring Vivek Oberoi, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn and Manisha Koirala among others, completes two decades of its release today. On the occasion, we spoke to Vivek who spilled the beans on what he learned from his co-stars. While the actor said that he didn’t get many tips on acting, he did learn a lot about life on the sets of the RGV film.
He recalled one of the most useful acting tips he got from “brilliant” Mohanlal. Company saw Mohanlal play Mumbai City Police Commissioner Veerappallil Srinivasan.
“I didn’t get many tips as an actor because people knew that I came in quite prepared. But I got so many life lessons from Mohanlal, Ajay Devgn and Ram Gopal Varma,” Vivek said.
He continued, “I remember Lalettan (as Mohanlal is fondly called) would write all the Hindi dialogues in Malayalam. He would place little pieces of paper with the dialogues all around the room. He would just look at those pieces of paper and read the Hindi dialogue in his Malayalam writing. I asked him how he is able to do this, to which he replied, ‘Acting is not about dialogues.’ He said, ‘Like in life, in acting, you need conviction.’ I remember that line so clearly. I was so amazed.”
Years later, Vivek Oberoi used Mohanlal’s technique on the sets of the latter’s film Lucifer. “Almost 17-18 years later, I shot for my first Malayalam film Lucifer with Mohanlal, and I did the reverse. I wrote all the Malayalam dialogues in Hindi or English. I placed them behind him and other co-stars. I remember I walked up to him to ask how did I do and he said, ‘One cannot tell you don’t know Malayalam. You were so good.’ So, I said this is exactly what I learned from him 17 years ago,” he said.

Celebrating 20 Years of #Company today, a dream that I have lived through.
Chandu is an emotion that will be with me forever!
20 Years ago I was a kid in the audience with dreams in my eyes.
Thank you to @RGVzoomin for believing in me and giving me #Chandu pic.twitter.com/pC2DDJHZ4y
— Vivek Anand Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) April 12, 2022
Company also starred Ajay Devgn in the lead role. When asked about Ajay, Vivek called him an “elder brother” and recalled how his strength and honesty inspired him. “I remember him telling me about his financial struggle after Raju Chacha and how he took it in his stride. He was so strong and overcame the difficulties. These are the things you learn from people,” he said.
Vivek also said he learned from filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma to not take praise and failures seriously. “I only learned one thing from him – the ‘I don’t care what people think about me. I live in the moment. Every moment is mine. I am master of my own journey.’ attitude. I truly believe that he lives that way too. doing that, he defines success for himself. He doesn’t allow anyone else to define it for him, which is phenomenal,” the actor said.

Lastly, Vivek Oberoi remarked that it was “an absolute privilege” for him to be a part of RGV’s Company. “Every actor somewhere wants to get immortal through celluloid. That is a dream for every actor. Company gives me the sense of immortality,” he concluded.