Neil leaves behind Ranbir and Imran

Neil Nitin Mukesh may have just become immune to all the comparisons withRanbir Kapoor and Imran Khan, especially when it comes to their respective box office standings. However there is one department in which he has beaten his young counterparts and joined the likes of seniors like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan,Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. Just like the quartet, he too is working in the remake of a South hit and has headed the 'masala' route.

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''Amongst the seniors, only Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan have refrained from heading Southwards in hunt of a sound script even though Aamir Khan started the trend with GHAJINI and Salman and Ajay saw good success coming their way with WANTED, READY, BODYGUARD and SINGHAM. Akshay too would be seen in ROWDY RATHORE, another remake. Though remaking South films has become like a trend, neither Ranbir nor Imran, have been bitten by this bug yet. However Neil didn't mind taking the plunge and is the only young actor to be working in a South remake today,'' says a source.


For Neil, this remake of Tamil film THIRUTTU PAYALE is all the more important since this is his first foray into out and out 'masala' flick.

''Most of his films have been offbeat affairs, whether it was his debut flick JOHNNY GADDAAR or JAIL. NEW YORK was a relatively serious affair whereas LAFANGEY PARINDEY didn't perform very well even though he was playing a 'tapori' in the film. However he is enjoying his stint in SHORTCUT ROMEO,' adds a friend of the actor, 'This is for the first time that he can be totally uninhibited in front of the camera. Just like Salman bhai went totally 'bindaas' in WANTED and READY, even Neil has let himself loose in SHORTCUT ROMEO.''