Neil Nitin Mukesh made a smashing debut in Bollywood with Sriram Raghavan’s Johnny Gaddaar (2007). The actor has now made his OTT debut with JioHotstar’s web show Hai Junoon. Dream. Dare. Dominate, which also stars Jacqueliene Fernandez and a list of young actors. The show sees musical and dance competition between two groups – SuperSonics and Misfits. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama, Neil got talking about the show and why he took time to select a project for his web debut.
You are making your debut on OTT with Hai Junoon. What excited you the most when you were offered the show?
For me, Hai Junoon was that one opportunity to collaborate with artistes across all mediums, platforms, age groups and generations. It was a collaborative effort to make something unique. Needless to say, the backdrop is music and dance and I come from a musical lineage. So, somewhere it’s my homage towards my grandfather (legendary singer Mukesh). Somewhere, what Neil had left behind from musical point of view, after doing this show I am feeling that I have come closer to it. As far as my character Gagan Ahuja’s journey is concerned, my own journey and personal struggles have taught and provided me with so much of experience. When I read the character, I could relate with its arcing and lifespan. So, I said I want to be a part of this show.
OTT really boomed in India in 2020. Were you offered any other shows before this one?
I would like to bridge your earlier question and this one. It wasn’t that there were no offers to act in shows. There were many. There were also some where I was wondering whether and how I should do them. But this one was going to be the first show that was casting film stars, TV stars, social media influencers and young generation stars. So, I felt this is a very innovative and novel way of going ahead. And it was very important to be a part of a show where people across age groups would enjoy. I really liked that range.
The thing is that if something does well, we keep on doing the same thing. For example, if one Special OPS comes out, people would make five more shows like Special OPS. It was a very good show. Neeraj Pandey ji left behind his mark. One can take inspiration from it. But then we are doing the same thing. Why aren’t we bringing something new? I was finding the offers I was getting quite repetitive. For example, one show is similar to other and some other was just rehashed from another. So, the genres were overlapping and merging. We weren’t coming up with anything new and fresh.
Amidst all this, I was eager to do a web show. But I didn’t want to do just about anything just because there is a trend of doing web shows. It matters whether the character offered to me is important. There were a few which didn’t have any relevance (to the main story). For an actor whose body of work is such, I thought I shouldn’t do them. But that’s fine. I kept patience. Oopar wale ka saath tha. He made me meet Aditya Bhatt and Sagar Thakkar. They offered me this show. Abhishek Sharma is the director. He has made such good films.
Is it a co-incidence that the show is named after your famous song ‘Hai Junoon’ from New York?
In one way it’s a co-incidence and maybe in another way it is a strategical move, not from me but from our producers because the song is very popular. Aditya Bhatt, Sagar and Abhishek sir didn’t name the show Hai Junoon because it’s a song from my film New York and I am a part of the show. Earlier, the show was called GOATS, then they changed it. I feel there is a lot of relevance with the title Hai Junoon. Everybody will be able to identify with this title. If you don’t have that passion, you won’t move ahead. You will become content too soon. The song is so popular even today because the words are so strong.
I once got a call from the makers saying that a few films or shows with similar names were already made. I said I agree with you but what is the new title. They said, “Neil we want to call this ‘Hai Junoon’”. And I was so excited. I wasn’t excited because it was my song. It was because this is the show where each youngster is coming with this hope and Junooniyat that his talent be showcased. Not just me. Even if you keep me aside, I will praise each member from the cast, crew, director himself and the technicians. They have made the show with such hard work and junooniyat.
Web shows go on for a lot of episodes, as compared to movies which get over in about two and a half hours. Was shooting longer episodes a challenge?
When you are doing a film of two or two and a half hour, it becomes important to create an impact of a single scene. You don’t have that much time to arc your character. There are other characters also and you need to justify them too and at the same time narrate the story. You need to give your characters a fast life; slow burn is not possible. This format has its share of fun and fear. You have good amount of time to evolve your characters. During the start, Abhishek sir and me felt whether we should directly go into it or should we slowly build the crescendo of this character. But as it’s a longer format, you can arc the character and get his evolution stronger. So that was kind of a challenge to not be in a hurry.
The non-linear format was a challenge. You have to remember what you shot on the first day and which scene is the character’s first scene. Sometimes we shoot the middle portions first. I had literally maintained a notebook during the shoot and noted down what the character’s journey would be on different points. I used to keep maintaining that journal. I also used to mention the evolution of the character’s timeline.
Jacqueliene Fernandez plays your rival in the show. How was it acting with her for the first time?
Very difficult because I can’t be her rival. She is so lovely and such a good human; she is a very good friend of mine too. So, it was very difficult to be counter attacking towards Jacqueliene. But I think nobody better than Jacqueliene Fernandez could have become a mentor for the misfits. She is such an idol. I also idolize her; her screen presence, aura, dance moves, fitness level, etc. From a young generation, she is very much the person who inspires you. And she has been doing it for so many years consistently.
It’s so difficult. In today’s times, people forget you after two films. It is so difficult to sustain. The competition has increased so much. But she continues to penetrate this competition and keeps moving ahead. She continues to reinvent herself and keeps herself fit and maintains her beauty. She looks lovely every time. She is an inspiration. Who better than her for a mentor for Misfits?
Hai Junoon is releasing today. What goes through you during the release of each project?
Butterflies, anxiety, anxiousness. I am thankful to God that what we had started off is getting released. The fear is thinking what next after this. The excitement and anxiety is that so much of our hard work will be evaluated by the public in just a few hours and whether we have succeeded in our task. Just like any other artiste, I am working hard to entertain our audience and we all hope that that happens with this show.
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