“Audiences won’t be distracted by skin show” – Neil Nitin Mukesh [Part 2]

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

November 6, 2009 - 2:00 PM IST

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Yesterday, Neil spoke about his journey from being a singer's son to doing Johnny Gaddaar and now being ready with Jail. In the second and concluding part of this EXCLUSIVE conversation with Joginder Tuteja, Neil spills further details about the USP of the film, his much hyped pant dropping inJail, how his mother broke the news to him as well as subsequent reactions of his parents, friends and that 'someone special'. Over to Neil.

“Audiences won’t be distracted by skin show” – Neil Nitin Mukesh [Part 2]

Getting into Madhur Bhandarkar's world of cinema must have been tough work though, isn't it?

Honestly, I could relate to Madhur, his film and the character pretty soon. I could exactly grasp the kind of vision that he had for the subject, treatment and the characterisation. The beauty of the entire affair is that I just knew that Parag was me.

Now that the film is hours away from the release, what do you think has turned out to be the USP of Jail?

The film's surrounding, setting and the title. See, I will tell you a fact. More than 90% of the audiences for the film are disconnected from a term like Jail. They feel that something like that can never happen to them because they are law abiding citizens. In fact in real life, they don't even want to know anything about it. Moreover, whatever they have seen of a jail so far in movies is all larger than life. However, Madhur's projection of a jail is truly authentic. It tells audiences what actually happens inside and this is what brings in an awareness and shock value. It becomes educational. Moreover, I have to emphasize on the fact that even though the film's title is dark and treatment seemingly morbid, Jail is still a slice of life film. You will connect with the emotions of the character as well people in his life inside and outside the jail.

Madhur's projection of a jail is truly authentic

What happens inside the jail does sound quite intriguing, especially the much hyped and blow out of proportion 'pant dropping' sequence?

Yeah, even I never imagined that this would be blown so much out of proportion. That was never the intent. There are so many other things to talk about the film as well. However, one can't deny the fact that this sequence too is an integral part of the film and was always there from the very beginning. We had visited Thane Jail and understood the procedures. Stripping is one process that cannot be missed by any inmate.

Now that you are over and done with the scene, how do you look at it all in retrospective?

I guess I could gather courage to indulge into frontal nudity mainly because I was confident of Madhur as a director. With his name and his brand, I was sure that things won't go wrong. Also, the way it would be presented on screen, audiences won't be distracted by the skin show. Instead, you would connect with Parag's mental state. Still, I can't deny the fact that as an actor; it was a scary moment for me to too. It was something forbidden and I was set thinking if my parents would be ashamed of me. After I did the scene, I was sure that they would be very proud of me. And so would be millions of other parents out there who could perhaps be watching the film with their children. I am sure no one would cringe in their seats.

The way it would be presented on screen, audiences won't be distracted by the skin show. Instead, you would connect with Parag's mental state

But how about that 'someone special' in your life? Didn't she cringe on seeing you dropping your inhibitions in front of the entire world, even though it was just for a film?

To be honest, along with that 'someone special', I also had to think of my parents who are most special to me. In fact I will tell you something interesting about how the news broke. I had done the scene without informing my parents. I had thought of telling them about it when the film was closer to release. And then one fine day, my mom called me up and said that a tabloid had come up with a picture of mine. Oblivious to which picture was she talking about; I just said 'Wow, can you please read the article'. And then she said, 'Hold on son, this one is without clothes'. I just paused for a moment and asked her to read the piece. She spoke about the Full Monty thing and got quite anxious once she was through reading. I just asked her to relax and explained the entire process of how the scene was shot and would be shown on screen. Once she calmed down, she asked me if I found it all in good taste. Once I reassured her of that, she was cool with it. However, my friends weren't as nice (laughs). I was a butt of their jokes for days at stretch as they made fun of me for going nude. My father didn't react much because he has been a part of films for decades now.

You still haven't answered the question about that 'someone special'?

Aaah, you are back at that! Well, I won't get into details but all she said was - 'Ok, so what can I say now. I guess from here on, I would have to fight it out with all other girls.' But yes, she has been cool about it as well.