Neil Nitin Mukesh on 'Saaho' co-star Prabhas: He'd call everyday to check if my pregnant wife was okay

He was last seen as the villain in Golmaal Again (2017) and now two years down the line, Neil Nitin Mukesh will be back as the baddie, this time in the action thriller Saaho, headlined by Prabhas. The actor who had an unconventional launch in Johnny Gaddaar, has played characters with an edge in most of his films. He also has worked with the best of filmmakers from Sriram Raghavan to Vishal Bhardwaj, Sooraj Barjatya and Rohit Shetty in Bollywood and AR Murugadoss in the South, and yet his career trajectory doesn’t boast of many hits. He, however, has no complaints. “I have worked with 15 National-Award winning directors, and learnt a lot from them. Unfortunately, the films didn’t work. That doesn’t mean the choices were wrong. There is a lot of math behind a film. But I am happy, I am still surviving in this industry after 12 years,” he says. The 37-year-old talks about his upcoming film, working with Prabhas and playing the baddie.

How did Saaho come about?

Right after Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP), I was offered the Telugu film Kaththi by AR Murugadoss. At that time I was thinking that every actor needs one film to sharpen his skill set. When you are constantly working you lose your perspective. I wanted a challenge, speak and dub my own lines (in Telugu). It kind of took me back to school. Then I was at that phase of my career — PRDP did really well and Kaththi was a blockbuster — when I met Sujeeth (director of Saaho) at an awards function where I won the best actor in a negative role. We instantly connected as friends. One day he called to meet and gave me a narration of the film. I instantly jumped onto it. I found it lavish and intriguing. Around that time Baahubali 1 was releasing and Prabhas was in it. We knew it would have a Hindi release, so, it kind of made sense that Sujeeth was making Saaho in three languages. 

What was it about the role that appealed to you?

My character is well-etched. Without giving much away, I can tell you it’s multi- layered. I needed to do this at this point of my career. There are certain perceptions about me and I like shocking the audience about what I am playing. From Johnny Gaddar to Saaho, I have switched as much as I can. Whether it was Wazir, Indu Sarkar, Players, Saat Khoon Maaf or David there were shades of grey in my character. Jai (his character) in Saaho is unpredictable. As much as you think he is planning something, you’ll see there is more than what meets the eye. The character is delicious and I liked to add to those layers to him. 

Did you have to do any prep for the role? 

The physicality and the body language was important. I had to be agile. For the role I had to look robust so I gained some muscle mass.

However, at the same time I had committed to my production Bypass Road, which is directed by my brother Naman. In that film I play a paraplegic for which I had to lose weight and I didn’t know how long I would be shooting for Saaho, so that was the only stress. 

Neil Nitin Mukesh

You have established yourself as the antagonist now. Is that the way you want it to be?

I don’t really understand the bifurcation of protagonist and antagonist. For me it’s a character, however much we use that lingo in terms of discussing films. We have so many stalwarts like Rajini sir (Rajinikanth), Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha, who started their career as anti- heroes or played characters with grey shades. They have also pulled off great comedies and family dramas. I am open to all genres, but I find playing an antagonist interesting. It’s always a challenge to come up with a new approach to a grey character. I like being unpredictable. In the West several actors essay characters with a bit of an edge and it makes them intriguing. We don’t make those Alfred Hitchcock kind of movies or suspense thrillers where all characters are grey. 

How was it working with Prabhas post his Baahubali success?

He is a darling. Yes, there was always this apprehension going on a set and facing the camera with Prabhas post Baahubali — How would he be? How would his approach be to his co-stars, etc. But, he is such a simple, down-to-earth person making all his co-stars comfortable. He gave me so much room to explore and expand my character. That is why in general people call him darling. I truly love him. My wife was pregnant when we were shooting some action sequences in Abu Dhabi. I had just got to know Prabhas, but he came down to my room and got gifts for my wife. Every day there would be one phone call from him to find out if she is okay, and looked after. Who does this? Everyone is so self-absorbed. I learnt a lot from him. My father always says when a tree grows big it starts bowing down to earth. Prabhas is such a big star but he is more humble. 

Have you thought of exploring the digital platform, which is the in-thing right now?

It is a great platform to explore different genres and scripts. The audience is used to great shows like Stranger Things and Game of Thrones. Here also there have been shows like Sacred Games and Typewriter which have been good. I would love to be a part of something where the maker is pushing the envelope. Right now, it’s not exciting me at all.