I have fallen in love with Tamil language: Neil Nitin Mukesh

The first thing that strikes when you meet the Bollywood chocolate boy, Neil Nitin Mukesh is his warm smile. He says, “I have visited Chennai along with my dad when I was a child. I was even here for promotions of Kaththi before. The people here are lovely. Visiting the city has always been a great experience. However, I feel Chennai has become closer to my heart after Kaththi. I stayed here for quite a long time during the shoot of the film and I feel people here have now accepted me after watching the movie,” says Neil. 

People associate actor Raghuvaran with the the sophisticated villain act in Ratchagan, way back in 1998. It took a few years for Tamil cinema to revive that through the character of Chirag in Kaththi, enacted by Neil. He was all praise for director A R Murugadoss who gave him a break in Tamil cinema. “I feel lucky to have spotted by him. We discussed the script I was skeptical. Murugadoss who gave me the confidence and time to practice and perform.”

Neil says he has also learnt to respond to Tamil audience after he learnt the language for the movie. “When I felt I have a lot to offer for this script, I was not sure if I will be able to speak the language. As an actor, I had to make sure that the co-actor responds to my cue. And having someone as legendary as Vijay acting with me, I did not want to let him and my director, Murugadoss down. So I took it up as a challenge and learnt the language by mugging up the entire script. And when I gave Vijay sir the cue in Tamil, he was impressed. As I started understanding the language , I fell in love with the language. When I recite shlokas during pooja, I have started recalling the Tamil words and using them actually. Now, my love for Tamil knows no bounds” 

Neil spends most of his time off the screen with his piano and photography. “I have taken up photography and have been roaming around clicking pictures off late. Apart from that, coming from a family of musicians, I take keen interest in playing piano,” concludes the actor. The actor was not available to comment upon his casting in the hit series Game of Thrones. But sources close to him have put forth that the producer of the show will meet the actor end of this month to discuss about the show. Here’s wishing him all the very best for it.