In his five-year-old career, actor Neil Nitin Mukesh has done around 10 films.

And the one lesson he's learnt in Bollywood is that nothing comes easy in life. `I don't believe in blowing my own trumpet. I believe in letting my work speak for itself. Someday it will happen and I believe it will,` says Neil, who will be soon seen in a retro avatar on screen. In a freewheeling interview with CS, Neil talks about life, hobbies and some yesteryear women he would love to romance:

So far, so good
I have not changed much since my debut in 2008. Personally, I still feel like I am a 15-year-old in a 31-year-old's body. As an actor, I have had the experience of working with some fabulous directors. That has taught me a lot.

The one lesson I have learnt from Bollywood is that nothing comes easy in life. Hard work is the key to success. What excites me as an actor are the story, screenplay and director, and my role, of course. I believe in the strength of a role, not its length.

Passion perfect
It's very important to keep in touch with your hobbies and surely, have a life beyond films. That is the only thing that helps an actor grow. You meet people. You observe.

You relax and keep your ears and eyes open and jot all the beautiful things that impact you, in your memory, and recall those moments when you perform. A hobby helps you de-stress and relax. And it is important for actors to just disconnect once in a while.


Loving retro style
I would love to romance all the beauties from the yesteryears. From Madhubala to Meena Kumari, Nargis to Nutan, not to mention Waheeda Rehman, Mumtaaz, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman. In Hollywood, it would be Audrey Hepburn or Elizabeth Taylor.

Only a blind man would not want to romance such gorgeous women (laughs out loud). What fascinatesme about the retro age is style and adah that most filmstarshad.

Musically yours
I play the piano and keyboard. I programme music. I have composed a few songs and sung them for a film of mine, which I will be shooting for hopefully this year.