Neil supports lil bro’s directorial debut

Neil Nitin Mukesh’s brother Naman is all set to make his directorial debut with a slick thriller Bypass Road. It stars Neil in a role that keeps audiences guessing until the nail-biting finale.

Says the proud elder brother, “Naman’s film started as an idea never attempted before in the suspense genre. It started developing and being written during my last schedule of Prem Rattan Dhan Payo.”

Neil adds that incentive to build a family empire came from the lack of extraneous incentive. “The scripts coming my way were not exciting me, and people would seldom ask me what sort of films I want to do. The new phase for Indian cinema was around the corner with digital platforms coming our way and educating our audience to world cinema and genres that they were not aware of. That’s when I started developing Bypass Road, a suspense film with a treatment that we rarely see in Indian cinema.”

Naman has previously assisted AbbasMustan and Bejoy Nambiar, which Neil would often sit in on. “I would often sit with him to see if I was going the right way. I feel that today’s generation is rebellious in their thought, and that is what I wanted to show in this script. Naman brought just that on the table. Once I neared completing the first draft I offered him the film to direct and also gave him the option to cast an actor of his choice. I’m glad he saw me playing the protagonist,” Neil reveals.

The older brother adds that he and Naman are inseparable. “We are like two bodies, one mind. Although he pampers me and values my involvement, I know that he is technically quite sorted and also in many ways more mature than me. I can only suggest as a writer or an actor on the floor, but the final call is his. He is the captain of the ship,” Neil reveals.