Vivek Gomber is seen playing the role of the scheming businessman Vikrant Gandhi in the thriller web series Lootere. The Disney+ Hotstar show, created by Hansal Mehta and directed by his son Jai Mehta, revolves around a trade ship that is hijacked by Somali pirates. In an exclusive interview with DNA, Vivek Gomber told us why he decided to do Lootere, talked about collaborating with Hansal Mehta and Jai Mehta, and shared the challenges the entire cast and crew faced while filimg the show on the seas in South Africa.
Vivek has been quite selective in his career as he has been a part of just a few shows and series, including Court, Sir, and A Suitabe Boy, in the last decade. When we asked him what made him choose Lootere, he said, "As an actor, I am still not in a position to choose many things. After I got a call for the show, I went through a couple of round of auditions with Jai (Mehta, director) and other actors, and then, there were look tests. After three to four months of back and forth, I was confirmed so that's how I got the job. They actually chose me. The more I found about it, I obviously wanted to do it. With Hansal sir and Jai being involved in it and their pedigree as creators in the last few years, it was a no brainer", he further added.
Vivek stated that he had a great experience collaborating with Hansal Mehta and Jai Mehta. "It was very clear here that Jai was leading the ship, he was the director and Hansal sir was the showrunner. They were very clear about how they wanted to make it so that clarity really gives you a lot of confidence. A lot of the times you think that the project is great but you don't know who's gonna make it, but here all had to make sure was that I was doing my job and everything around us was well taken care of. Having them around was quite a blessing", the Court actor stated.
Recalling the experience of shooting Lootere in Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic, Vivek shared, "It was really tough. Hansal sir was there with us in the beginning when we started shoot, then he had to go back to India for his work and Covid happened. So, it was very tricky. He was supporting us from there. We had a running crew, people flying in and out, all the logistics took a hit. Jai did a great job in South Africa, he didn't let any of the actors feel how much stress they must have been under. It's great that we had such captains who had the experience to rely on."
Apart from Vivek Gomber, Lootere also features Rajat Kapoor, Amruta Khanvilkar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Aamir Ali, and Martial Batchamen Tchana. The eight-episodic show has six of its episodes streaming on Disney+ Hotstar and the final two episodes will drop on the next two Fridays.
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