/> After a rigorous crash-course in taekwondo in Bangkok Neil Nitin Mukesh not only performed the martial arts for the camera he also directed the action scenes for himself.

A sure sign of ths young actor's progression towards his ultimate goal, direction. In fact Neil's mentor Yashraj Films have already reserved the rights verbally to launch Neil as a director.

Laughs the young actor, "That is some way off. But yes, I do plan to direct my own film some day, and not in the distant future. In the meanwhile I am here in Bangkok and I've directed all the stunts for an ad we shot for Gen- X innerweat. You could say my career as a director ha started."

It was Neil's idea that the ad have plenty of adrenaline-pumping action.

Last week after his leading lady Deepika Padukone left to shoot with Imran Khan in Delhi, Neil Nitin Mukesh suddenly took off for Bangkok for a week to learn the popular martial art Taekwondo, shoot the action ad and then shoot another very erotic ad.

Speaking from Bangkok and sounding quite out of breath Neil said, "It was my idea to combine the shooting of two back-to-back ads in Bangkok after my dates for Yashraj were readjusted.

It's been a super-hectic time since I arrived here. I first shot an action ad for the innerwear and then I'm now shooting a really erotic ad for a deodorant with all these firang babes. It was supposed to be like... first the action and then the araam."

Since the deodorant is aphrodisiacal Neil suggested the concept with a dozen sexy models.

Neil has seen in the company of at least a couple of these Caucasian models in Bangkok after shooting. A sure sign of his newly acquired single status.

"It's more a sign of the fact that I get lonely and bored every time I'm away from home. Fortunately the work schedule here has been really tough so I've no time to get lonely.

First the training in taekwondo, then the shooting for the action ad. And then the erotic ad with the babes. I thought the first ad would be strenuous and the second one will be relaxing.

But shooting with all those sexy women is even more hard work than doing stunts, " Neil winks.

Incidentally the taekwondo training is not just for the ad that Neil has just shot in Bangkok. It's also for Dhoom 3 which Yashraj is getting ready to shoot.

But Neil isn't talking about that yet. He returns to Mumbai on 27 March.