By:
Subhash
K.
Jha,
IndiaFM
Thursday,
October
04,
2007
His
powerful
debut
film
Johnny
Gaddaar
has
proved
to
be
a
bit
of
wimp
at
the
box-office.
But
Neil
Mukesh
who
stars
as
a
cold-blooded
money-minded
killer
in
Sriram
Raghavan's
noire
film
is
far
from
daunted.
"I
agree
Johnny
Gaddaar
is
a
box-office
disappointment," Neil
admits
four
days
after
his
debut
tanks.
"We
came
during
the
month
of
Ramzan
when
thirty
percent
of
the
(Muslim)
population
likes
to
stay
away
from
movies.
But
I'm
still
hopeful.
Not
a
single
person
who
has
seen
Johnny
Gaddaar
has
disliked
the
film
or
my
performance."
No
regrets?
"None
at
all!
I'm
glad
I
started
my
career
through
the
unconventional
route.
Even
my
second
film
Sudhir
Mishra's
Tera
Kya
Hoga
Johnny
is
highly
unconventional.
I
wanted
to
prove
myself
as
an
actor
before
I
do
the
routine
hero-giri.
Everyone
thought
I
was
trying
to
be
an
actor
because
I
thought
of
myself
good-looking.
Not
so!
I
chose
acting
because
I
didn't
have
the
discipline
to
be
a
singer
like
my
grandfather
Mukesh.
Even
my
father
Nitin
Mukesh
couldn't
be
another
Mukesh."
Having
done
the
most
unconventional
debut
ever
Neil
Mukesh
Mathur
is
all
set
to
try
his
hand
at
orthodox
gananachna
roles.
"Mercifully
the
offers
are
coming
in
a
steady
trickle
in
spite
of
Johnny
Gaddaar
failing
to
take
off.
Quite
frankly
I
didn't
even
think
about
the
film's
fate.
I
had
given
all
of
myself
to
the
project
for
a
year.
I
had
no
more
energy
or
emotion
to
invest
in
counting
its
blessings
at
the
box-office.
Johnny
Gaddaar
was
a
challenge.
I
am
glad
I
took
it
up."
And
now
an
equally
big
challenge
awaits
Neil.
"My
second
film
Tera
Kya
Hoga
Johnny
is
also
very
unconventional.
I
wanted
to
work
with
a
director
like
Sudhir
Mishra
even
if
the
protagonist
is
played
by
a
young
boy
from
Jharkhand
called
Sikandar.
There're
two
parallel
plots
in
Tera
Kya
Hoga
Johnny,
one
featuring
Soha
Ali
Khan
and
the
other
featuring
me.
I
play
a
guy
called
Parvez
who's
idolized
by
Sikandar."
Quite
a
reversal
of
the
role
Neil
played
in
Johnny
Gaddaar
where
he
looked
up
to
his
guru
in
crime
played
by
Dharmendra.
"But
now
I
promise
you
my
third
film
will
be
a
traditional
love
story.
I
want
to
prove
that
I
can
do
the
routine
stuff
too," says
Neil.