Beyond The Legacy: Neil Nitin Mukesh on Bollywood, Identity and AI | Shekhar Natarajan

Shekhar Natarajan (0:00)

Wrong.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (0:00)

If you think I'm an epokid, you don't know my story. I get that questioning a lot. You don't know my struggle.

Shekhar Natarajan (0:11)

And we try to actually extract the soul of the person we are talking to, because that's what makes them unique.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (0:24)

A struggle is not a bad thing. At least you're struggling.

Shekhar Natarajan (0:28)

At least you're struggling.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (0:29)

Why? Because you have a dream.

Shekhar Natarajan (0:35)

What were your aspirations of your father that he wanted you to be? And what are you relieved that you're not?

Neil Nitin Mukesh (0:47)

I said, no, mom, you don't understand. I have to do this.

This is the only way people will take notice of me. I have to do something else.

Shekhar Natarajan (1:23)

Welcome to yet another episode of Tomorrow, Today, with Shekhar Natarajan. It's an honor to have Neil Nitin Mukesh. He's a Bollywood actor, amazing human being, acted in over 35 films. His lineage is, by God, the most excellent one.

So my father is a big fan of his grandfather. We've grown up listening music. We've actually seen Neil work in some amazing movies.

It's an exciting, exciting conversation ahead of us, like for the next two, two and a half hours, like Neil, like I don't know, like I heard like you, you like to express yourself. I love to express myself.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (2:00)

I think it's going to be- I am very expressive, Shekhar. But first of all, I have to really thank you for that beautiful and humbling introduction. Thank you so much. And of course, a very warm welcome to the audience who's watching this.

Shekhar Natarajan (2:13)

Yeah.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (2:13)

I have mutual admiration, let's put it that way. I had the opportunity of going through a lot of your contribution, not just to our industry, but the society in general. And I have to say, I'm extremely honored, and it's such an honor and the pressure sitting right in front of you. Waiting for this.

I'm generally never nervous about podcasts, but first time I'm in awe, sitting in front of someone who I kind of admire right now.

Shekhar Natarajan (2:47)

Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

And nothing that we do here is controversial. We try to keep it very simple. We try to basically...

Neil Nitin Mukesh (2:55)

And I'm hoping that. I'm very away from controversy.

Shekhar Natarajan (3:01)

And we try to actually extract the soul of the person we are talking to, because that's what makes them unique. That's what we want the audience to see.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (3:10)

And that's the one reason I wanted to do this. Because I do podcasts, very few podcasts, but the moment I saw a few of yours and of course, I got to know what your true intention was behind this podcast, I said, I have to be a part of this, because where do you really get to be yourself and speak from your heart, you know? And I try and do that as much as possible through my social media, through my films, as an artist, through my message that I put across as, you know, I'm a very family-oriented person, very close to my mother, my father, to my grandmother. I never had the opportunity of meeting my grandfather. But she had always bridged this gap. She was a Gujarati lady, and we are very, you know, a very tightly connected family, and I think somewhere, you know, with the Gen Z crowd trying to be a little independent, somewhere I believe that all of us have that still somewhere in us. And I really like the way you had incorporated AI along with, you know, human emotions.

That fascinated me. I said, I have to maybe educate myself through this.

Sure.

Shekhar Natarajan (4:26)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So let's actually transport you back to when, like, you know, you were four or five years old, you know, in your house. I know your father, Nitin Mukeshji, is like an awesome singer. Like, your grandfather was an amazing singer, too. I'm sure there is like a lot of like music and practice and Riyaz going on in the house.

Even now.

Neil Nitin Mukesh (4:56)

Yeah.

Shekhar Natarajan (4:56)

And then...

Neil Nitin Mukesh (4:57)

The fourth generation in the Mukesh family, my daughter, Nuri, does Riyaz every single day with her grandfather. Wow. Of course. Right. My father's in the States. He's touring as we speak. He has his world tour on. He's 75

Still extremely active. So great inspiration for all of us. But I love to see the way grandfather and granddaughter bond. And somewhere, I never used to feel that, you know, art is genetically passed on some, you know, the craft and the art as we may call it.