I had to beg for work in Bollywood: Neil Nitin Mukesh

Neil Nitin Mukesh, who is the grandson of famed singer Mukesh, says that despite being from a film family, he had to “beg” for work in Bollywood, reported IANS.

The actor was present at the launch of spot girl-turned-author Komal Mehta’s book Spot Girl when he disclosed his share of hardships in the filmdom.

“When I came in the industry, I went to every single door. I went to every producer’s door. I literally begged them for work,” said the 32-year-old actor.

“Everyone I met, would say, ‘Hi’, ‘hello’ or ‘Oh! You are Mukesh’s grandson’. But nobody really gave me work. I was 22 years old at that time, but I had started struggling and finding work at the age of 19,” he added.



Despite being the widely celebrated singer Mukesh’s grandson, Neil had a ordinary childhood, like most other children of his age. He graduated from HR College, with a B.Com degree. His father, Nitin Mukesh, who is also a well-known singer, pushed him towards making an acting career since he was in 12th grade. On his father’s insistence, Neil attended a four-month-long workshop at Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute. He also spent some time at veteran actor Anupam Kher’s acting institute, during his summer vacations. Neil also assisted filmmaker Aditya Chopra in the Rani Mukherji, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor starrer Mujhse Dosti Karoge – he was studying in college back then.

Neil always had a passion for acting; it was his childhood dream to become an actor. He worked in Yash Raj’s movie Vijay and Vimal Kumar’s Jaise Karni Waisi Bharni as a child artiste, reported IMDb.

After years of struggle, Neil made an impressive debut with Johnny Gaddar in 2007, this movie was offered to him by filmmaker Sriram Raghavan and it was just the kind of script Neil had been waiting for.  Neil’s role in the movie was of an ambitious and smooth talking murderer. Although, the movie did not do too well at the box-office, it was critically acclaimed and Nitin’s acting skills were appreciated. The actor then went on to be part of many films, including New York, Jail, Lafangey Parindey, 7 Khoon Maaf, Players and Shortcut Romeo, among others. He is currently busy with Sooraj Barjatya’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and A.R. Murugadoss’ Tamil film Kaththi

Opting for acting as a career was a smart decision on Neil’s part. Had he become a singer, people would have expected a lot more from him and drawn comparisons between him, his father and his grandfather.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2014.

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