Neil Nitin Mukesh played an anti-hero in his debut flick ‘Johnny Gaddaar’ where he managed to make heads turn in spite of his film not really setting the box office on fire. He was noticed though and soon signed ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’ [which was known as ‘Freeze’ earlier with Bipasha Basu.
Now as the film gets ready for release with Kabir Khan’s ‘New York’ and Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Tera Kya Hoga Johnny’ being laid out for release later this year, one is tempted to ask Neil about his career choices and what exactly does he look for in the films that he does.
What are you looking at in the films that you work on?
The kind of films should be character oriented. Also, they should all be different from each other. If in ‘Johnny Gaddaar’, my character was busy killing as many as five people, in ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’, I play the role of a young boy who is much simpler but lands in a situation from where it becomes tricky to get out. Then in ‘New York’ again it’s an extremely character oriented look and a role that is truly different. So, as you see, I am working in films across different genres.
In ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’, your character Ray Acharya has a camera that allows you to look into the future. What if you actually get such powers where you could see the future?
The fact remains that whenever I talk to Jehangir Surti (the film’s director), I say that ‘Hey, in real life I don’t really want to know about the future’. I mean what’s the point? I am happy the way I am and I would rather look forward to the future rather than know about in advance.
Talking about Jehangir, this is his first film. Weren’t you apprehensive?
Though ‘Jehangir’ is a rank newcomer, his film is extremely slick and very fast paced. You run along with the narrative but you never loose out of your characters; you rather stay with them. As I have always maintained, this film is one of the simplest told thrillers that you would want to see. Beauty of the film is that you identify with the characters.
You seem to be really fascinated by this entire idea of a film being character driven…
Exactly the point. Somehow I believe that in today’s time, the cinema which works is where you can relate to the characters; can identify them. This is where the film works because you understand the turmoil and angst of the characters, something which gives ‘Aa Dekhen Zara’ a distinct advantage.
By Joginder Tuteja
