Neil
Nitin
Mukesh
is
the
first
mainstream
hero
to
have
done
a
scene
of
masturbation
in
Madhur
Bhandarkar"s
Jail.
Reliving
the
highly
unconventional
moments
of
on-screen
realism
Neil
says,
“Frankly
if
it
was
some
other
director
I"d
have
said
no.
But
knowing
the
way
Madhur
depicts
explicit
sexual
scenes
I
said
yes.
We
shot
the
masturbation
sequence
with
450
other
actors
on
the
set
with
me.
All
the
other
inmates
are
asleep
when
I
do
it.
Now
a
lot
of
it
has
been
cropped
off.
But
we
still
see
the
character
doing
it.
There"s
just
a
suggestion
of
it
now."
A
portion
of
the
sequence
was
voluntarily
removed
from
the
film
before
it
was
presented
to
the
censor
board.
Says
Neil,
“Honestly,
after
Madhur
and
I
shot
the
masturbation
sequence
we
found
we
had
gone
too
far.
It
was
too
explicit.
It
was
just
not
jelling
with
Indian
concepts
of
aesthetics.
So
we
decided
to
knock
it
off
quite
a
bit
by
mutual
consent.
We
just
wondered
if
the
flow
of
the
narration
would
be
hampered."
That"s
not
only
sexually
explicit
sequence
Neil
has
participated
in
for
Jail.
“In
one
sequence
I
go
in
the
night
to
the
bath
and
see
a
boy
performing
oral
sex
on
another.
Their
pleasure
is
interrupted
by
me,
and
the
boy
says,
'You
had
to
come
and
spoil
the
fun." While
we
agreed
to
remove
dialogue
the
scene
of
oral
sex
remains."
Neil"s
colleagues
say
they
would
gladly
do
a
nude
scene
for
a
role.
Ranbir
Kapoor
already
has
in
Saawariya.
But
auto-eroticism
is
going
too
far.
Neil
explains,
“My
nude
or
masturbation
scenes
are
not
for
titillation.
It"s
a
very
practical
need
in
the
script.
My
character
is
in
Jail
without
sex
for
2
and
1/2
years.
What
does
he
do?
He
naturally
seeks
pleasure
by
himself.
In
the
scene
that
we
shot
my
character
fantasizes
about
his
girlfriend
and
gets
his
gratification."
Comparing
the
moment
to
the
dramatic
poignant
and
memorable
sequence
in
Alan
Parker"s
1979
prison
drama
Midnight
Express
where
the
young
prison
inmate
makes
his
girlfriend
undress
from
across
the
glass
partition
dividing
prisoners
from
visitors
Neil
sighs,
“Oh
my
God!
That
was
a
wonderful
moment.
But
we
couldn"t
show
something
like
this
in
Jail.
Even
the
love-making
scene
with
Mugdha
Godse
has
been
so
aesthetically
shot.
Like
the
love
making
scene
between
Kate
Winslet
and
Leonardo
DiCaprio
in
Titanic.
It
became
an
out-of-the-body
experience
for
the
audience."
Even
the
censors" blocking
off
Neil"s
frontal
nudity
has
been
taken
in
the
right
spirit
by
the
young
actor.
“At
first
I
was
upset.
I
realize
I
am
the
first
Indian
actor
to
show
full
frontal
nudity.
But
the
scene
was
that
of
humiliation,
not
titillation,
like
the
naked
parade
in
Bandit
Queen.
Even
though
I
don"t
get
raped
physically
Jail
is
the
first
Hindi
film
to
show
the
hero"s
emotional
rape.
We"ve
created
all
the
hell
inside
prison.
Audiences
will
actually
see
the
horror
behind
the
prison
walls."