Neil carries on working with broken finger

MUMBAI - Neil Nitin Mukesh fractured his finger in three places but he bore the pain and continued shooting for his next film “Players”. The talented actor is also excited about his possessive lover act in “7 Khoon Maaf”.

His hand injury that he suffered in New Zealand may require surgery as it was made worse by his insistence on continuing the shoot.

“I’m not a reckless person. But one has to be professional and weigh the pros and cons. When a heap of things fell on my hand during an action sequence that Allan Amin was directing in New Zealand, and I insisted on doing my own stunts, I knew my finger was hurt…It had gone numb. But to cancel shooting would have meant immense losses for (directors) Abbas-Mustan. I couldn’t bear that. So I bore the pain instead,” Neil said.

In addition, he also shot an ad for a product that he endorses with the fractured finger. All of this has taken its toll on the injury and doctors have ordered him to rest the hand in a cast for five weeks.

The young actor said: “If it doesn’t heal properly, I’d have to go for surgery. At the moment I’m enjoying wearing a skin-coloured cast. Most people can’t even tell I am injured except for the fact that the affected finger is swollen five times over.”

Being part of the multi-starrer “Players” has not been an easy role for Neil Nitin Mukesh. But he enjoyed every bit of the shooting in New Zealand.

“I had a ball with the gang. Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Sonam Kapoor were so chilled out. Abbas-Mustan are such organised directors. We shot double-quick, no time wasted,” he said.

After the injury, Neil was looked after by his colleagues. “The unit is so organised, I didn’t have the heart to leave the shooting incomplete. To synchronize the stars’ dates would’ve been impossible.”

Neil is looking forward to the release of “7 Khoon Maaf”.

“I play a really bad guy in the film. He is mean, possessive and chauvinistic. Nothing like me. I never stifled my girlfriend Priyanka with my extra-possessiveness. Maybe I should have. Maybe then she wouldn’t have left and I wouldn’t have had a lonely Valentine’s Day with a broken finger for company,” he added.