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Neil Nitin Mukesh shares the challenges he faced in Bollywood, revealing how his looks led to doubts about him.
Neil Nitin Mukesh
Neil Nitin Mukesh recently reflected on the challenges he faced while building his career in Bollywood. In a conversation with The Therapy Diariez, the actor revealed that his appearance and family background made many people doubt his capabilities. Neil, the son of singer Nitin Mukesh and grandson of legendary singer Mukesh, said that people even questioned if he could speak Hindi properly because he “looked firangi.”
When asked whether he had any fears before getting his first film, Neil shared, “Till the time I didn’t land my first film, I didn’t let anything affect me. I said, I can’t afford to have any kind of fear. I can’t afford to have any kind of panics on the front of, will I make something of myself? I do not have a choice, I did not have a choice at all. I had to do it at any cost.”
He went on to explain how people’s perceptions added to his challenges. “It was already a challenge that I am Mukesh ji’s grandson and he’s a singer. My father is a singer. Anyway, people were doubting if I could even act. Is his Hindi even good? Dikhta firangi hai. (He looks like a foreigner) So I had a lot of these challenges to tackle. People would say, I look like an angrez ka baccha (child of a foreigner). If I would be able to work in Hindi films. All these were my handicaps which I made into my positives.”
Despite the doubts, Neil remained determined to carve a niche for himself. His journey in the film industry began as a child artist with appearances in Vijay and Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharnii during the late 1980s. He later worked as an assistant director on the 2002 film Mujhse Dosti Karoge before making his debut as a lead actor with Johnny Gaddaar in 2007.
Over the years, Neil has appeared in several Bollywood films and most recently featured in the 2024 release Hisaab Barabar.