Neil Nitin Mukesh
Neil Nitin Mukesh is an Indian actor, who appears in Hindi-language films. Born to Nitin Mukesh and being the grandson of Mukesh he began off his film career playing brief parts in Vijay and Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharnii.
After graduating from HR College with bachelor's degree in commerce, Neil returned to acting, playing the title role in Johnny Gaddaar where he received a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut nomination. His first commercial success was in the thriller film New York, for which he was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. Following a series of poorly received films, he made his debut in Tamil cinema with the majorly successful Kaththi. Neil's highest earning films include the romantic drama Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, the comic film Golmaal Again, and the trilingual action thriller Saaho.
Early life and background
Neil Nitin Mukesh was born on 15 January 1982 in Pune, Maharashtra. His father is Bollywood playback singer Nitin Mukesh, son of veteran singer Mukesh. His paternal grandmother was a Gujarati Shrimali Brahmin while his paternal grandfather was a Mathur Kayastha from Uttar Pradesh, born in Delhi. He was named by Lata Mangeshkar after the American astronaut Neil Armstrong. As a child, he appeared in Vijay and Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharnii as the younger versions of Rishi Kapoor and Govinda respectively.Neil was educated at Greenlawns High School and HR College in Mumbai, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in commerce at his father's insistence. He then decided to pursue a career in acting, despite being born into a family of singers. In an interview with The Times of India, the actor said "singing is my hobby, but acting is my passion. A passion that even my grand-dad harboured. So, while my father continued his legacy and became a singer, I pursued his other passion. I am living his dream". He trained at a four-month workshop at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute, and received training from actor Anupam Kher.
2007–10: Debut and breakthrough
Neil made his debut in Sriram Raghavan's 2007 thriller Johnny Gaddaar. His portrayal of a crook received positive reviews from critics and earned him a Best Male Debut nomination at the 53rd Filmfare Awards. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama described Neil as a "complete natural": "The youngster carries off the part with dexterity. There's just one word to describe his performance – superb!" However, despite critical acclaim, the film failed to do well at the box office.His first 2009 film was the science-fiction thriller Aa Dekhen Zara. Co-starring with Bipasha Basu, he played a struggling photographer who inherits a camera from his scientist grandfather. The film was a critical and commercial failure. His performance received mixed reviews from critics; while Nikhat Kazmi described him as charming and effortless, Raja Sen of Rediff.com said he "seems to have cleverly picked another character that doesn't require him to act much beyond the fish-out-of-water routine".
and Kabir Khan on the sets of New York, 2009
His next appearance was in Kabir Khan's action-drama New York with John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Irrfan Khan. Exploring the aftermath of the 9/11, the film was a critical and commercial success, earning over worldwide. His performance was praised by critics, earning him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 55th Filmfare Awards. Subhash K Jha wrote: "Neil as the sophomore with stars and stripes in his eyes is fully convincing credible and supportive of the two central performances."
His final film of the year was Madhur Bhandarkar's Jail, a drama revolving around the cruel reality faced by prisoners in Indian jails. The film's aesthetically shot nude scene and a masturbation scene sparked controversy; as a result, the latter scene was shortened. Neil remarked, "My nude or masturbation scenes are not for titillation. It's a very practical need in the script. My character is in jail without sex for 2-1/2 years. What does he do? He naturally seeks pleasure by himself." A commercial failure, the film and his performance were praised by critics. Taran Adarsh wrote: "Not only does Neil Nitin Mukesh deliver his finest performance to date, but the performance would easily rank amongst the finest this year. He conveys the pathos and helplessness that this character demands with amazing understanding. He deserves all praise for his extra-ordinary portrayal."
In 2010, Neil featured in Pradeep Sarkar's romantic drama Lafangey Parindey with Deepika Padukone. While the film received mixed reviews, his portrayal of a fighter was appreciated by critics. According to Sify's Sonia Chopra, Neil's "underplayed acting style complements the character's sketch perfectly". Blessy Chettiar of Daily News and Analysis noted: "He looks great in every frame and carries off rugged demeanour with panache." Lafangey Parindey was a moderate commercial success, with a worldwide revenue of. Neil then starred in Sudhir Mishra's dramatic thriller Tera Kya Hoga Johnny.
He has also been a brand ambassador to one of the leading clothing brands of the country, Oxemberg, in April 2010.
2011–present: Recent work
The following year Neil starred in Vishal Bhardwaj's 7 Khoon Maaf, a black comedy featuring Priyanka Chopra as a woman who murders her seven husbands in an unending quest for love. The actor was cast as Chopra's first husband, Major Edwin Rodriques, an arrogant, jealous and possessive army officer who lost a leg in Punjab's Operation Blue Star in 1984. The film premiered at the 61st Berlin Film Festival; it was a commercial failure, receiving a mixed response from critics, but Neil's performance was praised. Nikhat Kazmi wrote that he "excelled as the brute."In 2012, Neil starred in Abbas-Mustan's Players as part of an ensemble cast including Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Bobby Deol. The film was a remake of the 2003 Hollywood heist thriller The Italian Job; it was also a commercial failure, receiving mixed to negative reviews from critics. Subhash K Jha said he "brings a mean menacing tone to the villainy." And according to Rediff.com's Sukanya Verma, Mukesh "mistakes sinister for superficial, resulting in a truly phony performance."
In 2013, Neil worked in three films, though all were commercially unsuccessful. His first release was Bejoy Nambiar's action-drama David, in which he played a gangster whose boss controls the Asian community in 1970's London. The actor said his character's dual personality appealed to him: "Here was this hardcore, extremely violent gangster and on the other hand, my director wanted me to show the emotional and romantic side to him too." The film received mixed reviews, but Neil's performance was critically acclaimed. Writing for The Times of India, Madhureeta Mukherjee described it as "restrained and powerful" and CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand said that Mukesh is "nicely understated".
He next appeared opposite Sonal Chauhan in Eros International's horror film 3G. Filmed in Fiji, the film told the story of how the duo face supernatural occurrences when they buy a 3G-enabled phone. The film was not well received by critics. In a review for Rediff.com, Ankur Pathak said that Neil is "aggressively over the top" and added that his "body language is consistently uncomfortable." He also appeared in Susi Ganeshan's crime thriller Shortcut Romeo with Ameesha Patel and Puja Gupta. The picture ran into trouble when it got a limited release by its producers, and emerged as a major commercial failure. On his performance, Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India said: "Neil performs well as always, he looks good and proves that actors like him need better scripts to justify their true potential."
Neil has completed work on two films – Prerna Wadhwan's romantic drama Ishqeria, which will see him star opposite Richa Chadda, and Manish Vatsalya's Dussehra, where Neil will feature as an encounter specialist with Tena Desae. He debuted in Tamil cinema with AR Murugadoss's Kaththi. He also acted in Sooraj R. Barjatya's 2015 family drama Prem Ratan Dhan Payo with Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor. He also made a guest appearance in Wazir.
In November 2018, he turned producer and started filming Bypass Road, a thriller-drama film directed by his brother Naman Nitin Mukesh and written by himself. The film is scheduled to be released on 1 November 2019.
In 2019, he appeared in Saaho, a multilingual film directed by Sujeeth, playing an antagonist Jai aka Ashok Chakravarty.
Personal life
In 2017, Neil married Rukmini Sahay arranged by the familial elders.In April 2018, Neil Nitin had announced via Instagram that they are currently expecting their first child due later on in the year. Neil Nitin was then blessed with a baby girl Nurvi Neil Mukesh on 20 September 2018.