Suresh Oberoi

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Suresh Oberoi wanted to become doctor Suresh Oberoi was a victim of partition. His father had a real estate business in Pakistan but due to partition he left everything and came to India. But his father was a brave man hence after settling in India, he went back to Pakistan disguised as Muslim and sold his legal property in Quetta, Baluchistan, (now Balochistan, Pakistan) and safely returned to India with cash. He invested the money in business and gave quality education to his children. Suresh Oberoi studied at St. George's Grammar School, oldest English medium school in Abids, Hyderabad. He was good at sports and won President Award in scout. He wanted to become a doctor but his father’s sudden death forced him to carry his father’s business. He and his brother Jagmohan; both carried the business. During college Suresh Oberoi was appreciated for his good voice and this led him to stage and he won applause in acting too. Soon he got an opportunity on Radio and this promoted him to join FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) and make career in films

Suresh Oberoi was married to stop him from joining FTII When Suresh Oberoi’s parent came to know that Suresh Oberoi was planning a career in films and joining FTII they decided to marry him off. Suresh Oberoi was against the marriage but when he met the girl (Yashodhara) he was bowled over by her beauty and agreed to marry but he convinced his wife and joined FTII. The two married on August 1, 1974. Soon after marriage Suresh Oberoi left to FTII for a two year course in acting.

Suresh Oberoi became famous with his Lifebuoy commercial After completing his FTII course, Suresh Oberoi shifted to Mumbai with his wife. He had to live on rent in a small house. He had no godfather hence he had to struggle but his golden baritone and his dashing personality helped win radio jingles and commercial advertisement. He became famous with his commercial like Charminar, Lifebuoy and Four Square cigarette. He was making Rs 50 per week, out of which Rs 10 was consumed in railway pass. Life was hard. Filmmaker promised him work but dropped him at the last time. But Suresh Oberoi kept struggling. He did tiny roles for survival like Jeevan Mukt, Kaala Patthar, Kartavya, Surakshaa etc Suresh Oberoi failed as hero but a small cameo worked After many insignificant roles in 1978 Suresh Oberoi got a lifetime opportunity to work as a hero opposite international actress of Indian origin Deepti Naval in Vinod Pandey film Ek Baar Phir. The film was an art film and shot abroad. The film won critical acclaim but due to budget constrain it did not do much publicity. It was limited to International screening and did not get a commercial success. Hence the film did not serve much to Suresh Oberois career. Suresh was deeply hurt by the failure of Ek Baar Phir. He was tired of struggling when one of his friends suggested him to meet filmmaker Prakash Mehra. He met him and Mehra was impressed by his voice. He immediately hired him to promote his film Mukaddar Ka Sikandar on Radio. Later he offered him a cameo in his film Laawaris in 1980. The role won him wide acclaim and also fetched Suresh Oberoi his career’s first Filmfare nomination as supporting actor. After Laawaris, Suresh Oberoi became a part of Prakash Mehra films and did many films like Namak Halaal, Sharaabi etc. In fact in his film Ghungroo, Prakash Mehra offered him the lead role which was written for Amitabh Bachchan but as Bachchan was ill due to his Coolie accident, hence Mehra gave the role to Suresh Oberoi. The film failed or else Suresh would have been a bigger star. Suresh Oberoi won stardom after Laawaris After the success of Laawaris and a Filmfare nomination, Suresh Oberoi got good films. Among the most memorable film was Anil Sharma’s film Shradhanjali (1981). In this film Suresh Oberoi got the lead villain’s role opposite powerful actress Raakhee. The movie was a big hit and the confrontation scenes between Raakhee and Suresh Oberoi were the highlight of the film. The film opened doors for even bigger films and Suresh Oberoi was signed by Rakesh Roshan for his film Kaamchor (1982) directed by ace filmmaker K. Vishwanath. Later he worked with top filmmaker like Subhash Ghai’s Vidhataa; Shakti Samanta’s Awaaz; K.Bapaiah’s Ghar Ek Mandir ( for which he won yet another Filmfare Nomination); Mukul Anand’s Aitbaar (opposite Dimple Kapadia); Rahul Rawail’s Dacait; N.Chandra’s Tezaab (Opposite Anil Kapoor), Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parinda; Mehul Kumar’s Tirangaa (Opposite Nana Patekar); Dharmesh Darshan’s Raja Hindustani (Opposite Aamir Khan) etc. Suresh Oberoi won a National Award too in Ketan Mehta’s art film Mirch Masala.