They
were
the
two
most
invigorating
hours
of
Neil
Nitin
Mukesh"s
life.
The
time
that
he
spent
in
Tihar
jail
on
Monday
afternoon
as
part
of
the
campaign
to
make
his
film
Jail
connected
to
a
larger
reality
about
the
life
of
prisoners,
has
left
the
young
actor
sobered
and
reflective
beyond
words.
“What
I
saw
in
Tihar
was
not
just
prisoners
put
in
for
punishment.
But
human
beings
who
have
been
put
in
a
400-acre
city
with
the
purpose
of
reforming
them
and
making
them
suitable
for
mainstream
existence
when
they
are
released."
Neil
reached
Tihar
around
2
in
the
afternoon
with
his
co-star
Manoj
Bajpai,
director
Madhur
Bhandarkar
and
music
composer
Shamir
Tandon.
Neil,
Manoj
and
Madhur
were
immediately
recognized
and
mobbed
by
the
inmates.
Getting
emotional
Neil
says,
“Every
barrack
has
a
television
with
20
channels.
So
they
had
seen
our
movies.
What
I
saw
in
their
eyes
was
an
amazing
pain.
We
had
taken
along
a
small
orchestra.
Shamir
Tandon
and
all
of
us
sang
Lataji"s
Daata
sun
le
maula
sun
le,
followed
by
Kitne
ajeeb
rishte
hain
yahan
par
and
Sikandar
from
Madhur"s
Page
3.
When
we
sang
Sikandar
the
prisoners
burst
into
a
dance.
This
was
the
only
time
I
saw
them
really
let
go
of
themselves."
The
Jail
anthem
Daata
sun
le
will
now
be
played
at
Tihar
every
morning
as
part
of
the
prisoners" daily
prayer
meetings.
Bhandarkar"s
film
will
also
be
screened
on
a
DVD
for
the
inmates.
The
two-hour-thirty-minute
visit
was
peppered
with
moments
that
have
changed
Neil"s
life
forever.
“There
was
cage
filled
with
birds.
I
hate
to
see
caged
birds.
I
requested
the
DG
of
police
to
please
free
them.
He
listened
to
me,
allowed
me
to
enter
the
big
cage
and
free
the
birds
personally.
It
was
the
most
liberating
experience
of
my
life."
Neil
spent
time
talking
to
individual
inmates,
getting
to
know
their
minds
and
hearts.
“Do
you
know
they
have
10-day
meditation
courses
in
there,
a
full
Vipashana
where
the
yoga
guru
comes
and
stays
inside
the
prison?
There"s
also
a
shopping
arcade
at
Tihar
where
everything
under
the
sun
made
by
the
prisoners
is
branded
TJ
(Tihar
Jail)
and
sold.
I
was
told
the
revenues
from
these
handmade
Tihar
goods
comes
to
7.5
crore
rupees
every
year.
I
bought
a
kambal
(woolen
blanket),
shawl,
kurta,
sweets
and
other
edibles."
Understandably
Neil
feels
a
great
pride
of
achievement
in
what
he
has
done,
“It
is
one
thing
to
play
a
prisoner
no
matter
how
authentically
it"s
another
to
actually
go
into
this
world
away
from
the
free
world
and
experience
the
feelings
of
isolation
inside."
Adds
Manoj
Bajpai,
“I
had
last
been
to
Tihar
12
years
ago.
The
reform
work
that
had
been
started
by
Kiran
Bedi
has
continued.
Tihar
shouldn"t
be
the
exception.
All
prisons
should
be
modeled
on
Tihar."