The son of actor Suresh Oberoi, Vivek Oberoi made a promising debut in 2002 in the edgy gangster film Company, established himself as a matinee idol that same year in the romantic drama Saathiya, started dating one of the biggest stars in the business, Aishwarya Rai, and then proceeded to blow his momentum with a string of poorly chosen projects and a growing reputation for being difficult. But perhaps the move most detrimental to his career was his decision in 2003 to call a press conference and announce on live television that he was being harassed and threatened by Aishwarya’s ex, Salman Khan. The stunt received enormous media attention and many industry insiders were angry that Vivek had aired dirty laundry about one of their own in public. He and Aishwarya broke up in 2005. He was praised for his performances in the multistarrers Yuva (2004) and Omkara (2006), but it wasn’t until 2007 that he had a modest comeback as the lead in Shootout at Lokhandwala, in which he delivered an explosive performance playing real-life gangster Maya Dolas. His next big film, Mission Istaanbul (2008), was a critical and commercial failure. But don’t count Vivek out yet—he’s an immensely talented actor with offbeat appeal and he has some interesting projects on deck.