Neil Nitin Mukesh recently criticised Bollywood writers and directors for not focusing on ‘original ideas and content’ and instead ‘remaking films’  in a discussion about the thriller genre.

With movies like the sci-fi thriller Aa Dekhen Zara, Madhur Bhandarkar's Jail, and Sudhir Mishra's Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, Neil specialised in the thriller genre early in his career. His biggest box office hit during this time was another thriller, the 2009 movie New York, in which he co-starred with John Abraham and Katrina Kaif.

Speaking to Times of India, Neil said,  “There are various sub-genres, like psychological thrillers, political thrillers, horror thrillers and so on. Why aren’t we exploring those? We are still remaking films instead of coming up with original ideas and content. In Bollywood, we have original ideas, but I feel that we prefer to play it safe.”

After years of working on modest, independent films, Neil finally achieved success in the Tamil film business in 2014 with the blockbuster Kaththi. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Saaho are two of his other top films.

In addition, Neil discussed how an actor's value is exclusively based on financial success, which is why he strives to find a balance by acting in a variety of films. He thinks that in show business, he needs to be somewhat pragmatic and strike a balance. The truth is that an actor's reputation is mostly reliant on his commercial success, both within the industry and among the public. He enjoys working in movies like Jail, but he will also appear in comedies like Players and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo.

In the 2019 movie Bypass Road, Neil was last spotted. He also had a supporting part in the Prabhas-starring movie Saaho that same year. His soon-to-be-released movies include Kay Kay Menon and Jackie Shroff-starring Ankush Bhatt movie Firrkie.