/> Though Neil Nitin Mukesh had a crucial release this week he's pitching in hard for Sonam Kapoor who has a crucial release this Friday. Neil and Sonam have been close friends from the time they worked together in Abbas-Mustan's pricey fiasco Players.

Ever since then the two have kept close tabs on each other's projects and make sure they watch one another's films.

There's a healthy give-and-take of criticism from both ends.

Neil feels this Friday brings a new beginning for both of them. `Sonam in Raanjhanaa is completely transformed. I can see the change in her. I feel it would be like a new beginning for her. It's like what happened to Karisma Kapoor after Raja Hindustani or Shabana Azmi in Arth. `

Neil himself feels a similar change as an actor as he watches himself in Shortcut Romeo. `Believe me, I've never worked so hard. Because the director Susi Ganesan is completely new to Hindi cinema and Bollywood I was virtually the one-point stopover for the entire project in Mumbai. `


Neil says he served as the hero, the chief assistant, the production co-ordinator and the spotboy on this one. `My involvement with Shortcut Romeo was so deep that I forgot where the actor was left behind and the all -purpose project co-ordinator took over. Susi is completely alien to Bollywood. I had to lead him through the entire project. But I enjoyed every bit of it. `

Neil is confident of Shortcut Romeo in spite of competition from his friend's film. `I know Raanjhanaa is a big one. Everyone wants to see the love story between Sonam and Dhanush. So do I. But we are advantaged by our budget. Raanjhanaa is a Rs. 30-35 crore project. We completed Shortcut Romeo within 15 crores although we shot in some of the most exotic spots of the world. `


Neil is all for Raanjhanaa. But he is confident of his own film. `Shortcut Romeo was a huge success in Tamil. And we've gone many steps ahead of the Tamil original Thiruttu Payale in terms of treatment and execution. `