Pics: Namita-Neil Ramp Walk at CIFW

Namita litterally had butterflies in her stomach and was feeling jittery; Namitha from South had a lot to worry before she hit the ramp.Yes, Namitha was the showstopper for Chennai-based designer Sidney Sladen at the Chennai International Fashion Week on December 16 along with Bollywood hunk Neil Nitin Mukesh.

Dressed in a crystal studded off-neck gown, she sashayed down the ramp like a pro to the music of ‘Yeah’ by Usher. Giving her company was Neil, who was especially in Chennai for the event, wearing a red coloured semi-formal jacket and flaunting his killer smile. Sidney Sladen is one of Chennai’s top designers and a close friend of actress Trisha and Ramya Krishnan. Earlier also, the designer had roped in Namitha to launch his second outlet ‘Sidney Slade’ at the Le Meridien. As per reports, she is a regular client of Sidney.

Namita Ramp Walk at CIFW

Neil brings girlfriend out in the open

Neil Nitin Mukesh, who has kept mum about his girlfriend Priyanka Bhatia so far, showed up with her for the first time at the premiere of his critically acclaimed film "Jail". He says she is an integral part of his family and that they enjoy a good comfort level.

"My parents and her parents not only know and like each other, we also visit each other's homes constantly. More than lovers, we're friends first," Neil told IANS.

"There's a comfort level in our interaction that makes us very relaxed with one another. We don't have to hide anything. We meet openly and are very proud of one another. There's no pressure for marriage on either side. When it happens, it happens. The marital status would hardly alter anything between us," he added.

Priyanka has done a course in fashion design and Neil is open to the idea of her designing his clothes for his films.

"I'd love that. But it should happen on its own. Neither Priyanka nor I want to pressurise anyone to use her skills. But if it happens, I'd be very happy to be dressed up by her," he said.

Talking about his girlfriend's reaction to "Jail", he said: "Priyanka and my mom were hysterical with grief. They weren't looking at just a character being put through a traumatic time. To them it was someone who they both love and he was in pain in front of their eyes."

Talking more about work, Neil admits that there is healthy rivalry between him and Ranbir Kapoor.

"Ranbir and I are of course competitors. But there's no negative rivalry between us. Our respective fathers (Nitin Mukesh and Rishi Kapoor) would kill us if we behaved like two brats fighting for the same roles," said Neil.

"I'm proud that Ranbir's and my grandfather (Raj Kapoor and Mukesh) were very close friends. My father and Ranbir's father adore each other. Ranbir is like my younger brother," he added

Neil's "Jail" and Ranbir's "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani" released on the same day.

"I'd want Ranbir's film to do as well as mine," Neil says. "Fortunately, 'Jail' and 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' look like north and south poles."

Neil Nitin Mukesh masturbation in Movie Jail

Neil Nitin Mukesh is the first mainstream hero to have done a scene of masturbation in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail.

Reliving the highly unconventional moments of on-screen realism Neil says, “Frankly if it was some other director I’d have said no. But knowing the way Madhur depicts explicit sexual scenes I said yes.

We shot the masturbation sequence with 450 other actors on the set with me. All the other inmates are asleep when I do it. Now a lot of it has been cropped off. But we still see the character doing it. There’s just a suggestion of it now.”

A portion of the sequence was voluntarily removed from the film before it was presented to the censor board.

Says Neil, “Honestly, after Madhur and I shot the masturbation sequence we found we had gone too far. It was too explicit. It was just not jelling with Indian concepts of aesthetics. So we decided to knock it off quite a bit by mutual consent. We just wondered if the flow of the narration would be hampered.”

That’s not only sexually explicit sequence Neil has participated in for Jail. “In one sequence I go in the night to the bath and see a boy performing oral sex on another. Their pleasure is interrupted by me, and the boy says, ‘You had to come and spoil the fun.’ While we agreed to remove dialogue the scene of oral sex remains.”

Neil’s colleagues say they would gladly do a nude scene for a role. Ranbir Kapoor already has in Saawariya. But auto- eroticism is going too far.

Neil explains, “My nude or masturbation scenes are not for titillation. It’s a very practical need in the script. My character is in Jail without sex for 2 and 1/2 years. What does he do? He naturally seeks pleasure by himself. In the scene that we shot my character fantasizes about his girlfriend and gets his gratification.”

Comparing the moment to the dramatic poignant and memorable sequence in Alan Parker’s 1979 prison drama Midnight Express where the young prison inmate makes his girlfriend undress from across the glass partition dividing prisoners from visitors Neil sighs, “Oh my God! That was a wonderful moment. But we couldn’t show something like this in Jail.

Even the love-making scene with Mugdha Godse has been so aesthetically shot. Like the love making scene between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. It became an out-of-the-body experience for the audience.”

Even the censors’ blocking off Neil’s frontal nudity has been taken in the right spirit by the young actor.

“At first I was upset. I realize I am the first Indian actor to show full frontal nudity. But the scene was that of humiliation, not titillation, like the naked parade in Bandit Queen.

Even though I don’t get raped physically Jail is the first Hindi film to show the hero’s emotional rape. We’ve created all the hell inside prison. Audiences will actually see the horror behind the prison walls.”

Madhur Bhandarkar’s film, Jail, has Nidity in it

Madhur Bhandarkar’s film, Jail, has been passed by the Censor Board with a ‘U/A’ certificate. But Madhur isn’t exactly smiling from ear to ear as they gave it a ‘U/A’certificate only after chopping off seven scenes.

The seven scenes that were snapped off include Neil’s nude scene, a homosexual scene, Neil and Mugdha Godse’s love-making scene, a sex joke, etc. Abusive dialogues are also no longer a part of the film. Even though Madhur wasn’t entirely ok with the decision, he didn’t want to release the film with an ‘A’ certificate.

Madhur fought a good bit for Neil’s nude scene as it was already blurred. But the authorities were unwilling to budge.

The Regional Officer of the Censor Board stated that it was necessary to remove some scenes if a ‘U/A’ certificate had to be given.

They would have been more liberal if the director was aiming for an ‘A’ certificate. He feels that the film is well researched and very thought provoking and that the authorities loved the film.