Neil Nitin Mukesh pledges support for Team India

Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh is a big cricket enthusiast and like every other Indian, is glued to the TV screen when India is playing a match. The actor also has quite a few friends in the Indian cricket team and is hoping that we bring the cup home this time. “Sachin Tendulkar is my favourite player, but I have a couple of friends playing too. Sreesanth and Virat Kohli are close friends and I see that they are doing quite well. I am really looking forward to the India-Pakistan semi-finals clash this Wednesday. That will be a cracker of a match I’m sure.”

In the same breath, the actor says that he is proud to be an Indian. “It is at times like these that I feel proud to be a part of a nation like India.” He also talks about the DNA India Positive campaign and why he is all for it. “It is a great initiative by DNA to spread awareness. We often forget our roots and there has been too much criticism in the recent past. This binds people and urges them to stay positive and look at the positive side,” he says.

Cricket aside, ask him about his off-beat choice of roles and he says he is not jumping on to the bandwagon of doing run-of-the-mill roles. “I am not trying too hard. I am just doing what I am supposed to do — act.” And what about critics constantly comparing him to Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan? “These comparisons are very pointless. We all are very young and we all have a long way to go even before we can have a body of work to talk about. I’d rather consider my seniors competitions, because it is only then that I would strive to be like them.”

So who is the actor he looks up to or considers competition? “Well there is only one actor I look up to, Mr Amitabh Bachchan. He certainly is not my competition though. Every actor unanimously wants a body of work like his, but we all have a long, long way to go,” he signs off.