Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh recently took down the memory lane as he remembered working with Deepika Padukone in ‘Lafange Parinde’. In a special chat with India Today Digital, he opened his bonds, shared experiences and his praise even today.

While reflecting its first major promotional activity together, Neil said, “I think it was a shooting of a magazine. And I really enjoyed it because it was our first preacher Kick-Start for ‘Lafegie Parinde’. But at the same time, we were playing on the screen, we were very different from the vibe of this shoot-very young women.”

Calling Deepika a “great friend”, Neil said, “I respect the woman very much. She is working so hard in her career. It was excellent to work with her and the whole team.”

Asked if they are still in touch, Neil clearly replied, “off and on.

Neil, who has worked with many prominent women over the years, was also told about co-stars like Katrina Kaif. talking about His cameradari with KatrinaHe shared, “I had some fantastic co-actors, and Katrina is one of them. I love. We had a great team, brilliant shoot and some great memories.”

But when just an actress was asked to choose, she loved to re-join her previous films, Neil did not hesitate and said, “Deepika. I have worked with amazing actors like Katrina, Bipasha and others, but I want to join Deepika again. She inspires me as an actor.

Neil also praised Deepika’s recent roles. “Late, she is experimenting with very interesting characters and roles. Like ‘Chhap’, for example – it was a film that I really enjoyed. And I need to work with actors who inspire me and may teach me something. For her, she can have so much confidence in my skin and like that she is very inspiring, and I always praise it, and I always praise it.”

Neil Nitin Mukesh will be seen next time in passion, where he will share the screen with Boman Irani and Jacqueline Fernandez, as well as with Smeed Mudgalkar, Siddharth Nigam and Priyank Sharma. This will stream on Jiohotstar from 16 May.