Neil Nitin Mukesh is one of the most promising actors — and definitely the most handsome — to have emerged in 2007. Though Johnny Gaddaar did not work wonders, the grandson of legendary singer Mukesh has films with Yash Raj, Madhur Bhandarkar and Sudhir Mishra in his bag. Here he rewinds to how he started out in Bollywood — as an assistant director...

As an adult, my first stint with the camera was not in front of the camera, but behind it. I assisted director Kunal Kohli in his first film — the Yash Raj production, Mujhse Dosti Karoge! I was the fifth AD, which is what assistant directors are popularly called.

Normally, people begin their career as an AD in some shoddy locations but I began my career as an assistant director in Switzerland. Yes, in Switzerland! It was amazing.

I was given the clapboard but I did not know what to do with it. It was the first scene of the film and I remember it was evening at that time. We were going to start the shooting with an emotional scene between Rani Mukerji and Kareena Kapoor.

Since I was given the clapboard, I had to go in front of the camera but I forgot the scene number! To make matters worse, I loudly declared that I had forgotten the scene number and the shot number! I could see two eyes staring at me — and those were of Kunal Kohli.

The atmosphere on the sets was really cool after I settled down. Rani became a very good friend. Kareena was always a friend. Hrithik and I shared a great rapport on the sets. All the three actors were very sweet not only to me, but to each and every AD on the sets. They knew that I was Mukesh’s grandson and Nitin Mukesh’s son; and they gave me a lot of love. But they never gave me extra attention — there was never any kind of distinguishing between any of the ADs.

Kunal Kohli is the first director with whom I worked, and he was very strict. He did not care whose son I was, he was just very involved in his work. But he was also a very good teacher; he was like a learning ground for me.

Not many know that not only was I the AD in Mujhse Dosti Karoge!, but I also did a cameo in the film. My back was seen in a frame — I was the photographer, who clicked the family photographs. I also did one more scene in the film — we had to cheat the wedding scene and I was the dulha at the pheras, where only the legs and the hands were shown. Being an AD is a lot of fun because you get to do a lot of things.

Even today, I don’t treat myself as a star; and in both my films (Johnny Gaddaar, Ab Tera Kya Hoga Johnny) I have also worked as the film’s Executive Producer. I meet lots of ADs who are beginning their careers and I don’t mind sharing my experiences with them because many of them are scared. One thing I know — if you want to make it big, you can’t be scared.

Now that my debut film as an actor Johnny Gaddaar has been released and I have begun working on my second film, people come and ask me now how I treat ADs on the sets of my films — do I sympathise with them? Why should I sympathise with the ADs? Being an AD is great fun and an even greater responsibility. In fact, I envy them because I miss my days as an assistant director.