It was the press conference which shook the industry and fans, and continues to live in infamy over two decades on.

But Vivek Oberoi, who was at the centre of it all, seems to have completely made peace with the disastrous aftermath.

In the early 2000s, Vivek and Aishwarya Rai, were rumoured to have been romantically involved. This was shortly after her relationship with Salman Khan had ended. In 2003, Vivek had called a massive press conference to accuse Salman of threatening him over his association with her. The impact of this however, blew up in his face, very perceptively altering Vivek’s standing in the industry, prior to which, he was the next big thing to look out for.

In a recent chat with Prakhar Gupta, shedding light on the rationale behind taking such a big step, he reflected, “I have been a very sensitive and emotional person in life. I don’t want to live in the fear of heartbreak because I have lived that already. I have experienced it, it’s a very scary, lonely and insular life”. Touching on the heartbreak and loneliness he went through in the aftermath, he added, “You have to be open again, to love again, and feel again”.

At the time, the press conference and how it blew up made for among the decades biggest controversies. However, Vivek simply sees it as a test of resilience from God he had to go through. “Ajeeb baat yeh hai ki sar par jab aafat aati hai, sar pe pange hote hai, tab woh bade lagte hai… Similarly, I feel when God sees your problems, he must be thinking, ‘bacche this is a small thing, I’ll make you stronger’, he said.

As a matter of fact, even indulging in any discourse over it feels very out-of-touch for him. He said, “Woh perspective baadmein dikhta hai…Now I find it immature. Having or giving a reaction feels funny now,”, he said, adding, “Ek woh jo darr tha, ya kadvahat thi, bitterness thi, scars the, it becomes a difficult window at that time. Whatever I went through, I have forgotten about it”.

Vivek last appeared in film Kesari Veer, which released earlier this year. He will next be featuring in Masti 4.