'I have struggled a lot to reach here, to speak to you'

This is how I wanted it to be. Bit off-beat,” says Akshay Oberoi. The surname of this newbie rings his familiarity with the Hindi film industry while his good looks are reminiscent of Ranbir Kapoor’s charm.

A perfect package for a Hindi film ‘hero’, yet this cousin of Vivek Oberoi chooses to make his debut with an ‘unconventional’ film Pizza 3D. 

“I would like to do a song and dance sequence, but only if it is in the context of the script,” says Oberoi, reasoning his choice to be seen as worthy of being an ‘actor’. “Everyone does romantic-comedy.

There is bigger money riding on those star sons who get packaged films to debut in the industry. Even I hope to do the same one day,” he adds talking about his childhood in Mumbai and adulthood in the United States.

“I saw my other family’s work but that didn’t inspire me to take up acting professionally. As a child, my father introduced me to all the great actors through films,” he says mentioning Pyaasa, Trishul and Angoor as his favourites.

“I even knew the box office numbers at that age but it was only when I turned 13 that I told my father that I wanted to act. He directed me to take up formal training and I chose the best university in the US to learn theatre.”

Oberoi continued theatre even after coming back and even accepted a TV series where he met Bejoy Nambiar and, “A year later, I got a call from Bejoy for Pizza.

I saw the original Tamil film and decided to be part of it, no matter whosoever was backing it. You don’t get a lot of ‘wow-factor’ in Hindi cinema and Pizza is a one of those films which is different and has more reality.”

According to Oberoi it is a myth that different films like Pizza don’t work. “Who would have said three years ago that Barfi! will do a Rs 100 crore business?

Audience is watching horror films on satellite channels then why wouldn’t they accept it on 70 mm?” he questions raising the possibility of debuting with a film that might not see a large audience due to its genre.

Explains Oberoi, “Pizza is not just a horror film. It is a suspense-thriller. We don’t have an item song or a dance number.

In other words, this film doesn’t have what ‘sells’, but I knew that at the time of signing. Infact, we never expected such as big release. It was always going to be publicised by only word of mouth,” he informs, confident about the film’s performance.

But nothing dissuades him from the profession even though he gets jitters before the film’s release. “Making the movie was hard, waiting for its release is painful,” he says with a smile and adds, “I have struggled a lot to reach here, to speak to you.

And I if I say that the journey has been easy, then I would be lying. If the film doesn’t work, I am better equipped to face it. Atleast, someone thought that I could be in 95 per cent of his film. But I am not going to leave films!”