“If you want to achieve something, you’ve got to go through pain.” John AbrahamJohn Abraham say’s his time has started now...
John Abraham is at an in-between stage & in between films. He’s finished Abbas Tyrewala’s 1-800 Love and has Nishikant Kamath’s (Mumbai Meri Jaan) untitled action project lined up next. Then there’s Dostana 2 starting in June. Before which he has four months to himself. “To look at life, to introspect, to ask myself questions about things I’ve done and which need to be done, to solve 10,000 problems, my mind is caught in a melee,” carries on the actor, “there’s a lot of nervous energy, there’s tension waiting to be relieved, and the gym is my release. I’m not lifting heavy weights to prove a point. The gym is like my church and working out is like praying...”
His film “New York” has completed 50 days at the box office and actor John says the film industry is looking at him differently now - from being termed as expressionless by critics, he is now being praised for emoting on screen “Can you beat that there was so much negativity thrown about me over the years, but I was keeping my head down and continuing to pick the best from what came my way. I’m glad I did ‘New York’. It just changed the way filmmakers are looking at me today,” say’s John.
He’s unmindful of the fact that, like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, he’s stuck to doing one film a year only. There was Dostana in 2008 and New York in 2009. That’s it. “Like everybody else, I get offers all the time, but you’ll never hear I refused a film I don’t take pride in saying that. The point is not to do everything you get but to do the right thing,” states John. And right now, he’s not doing anything. Yet he’s the only actor, apart from SRK and Akshay Kumar, with a non-filmi lineage who’s hanging in there. Perhaps that’s because John has a huge and loyal fan following that’s got nothing to do with the success or failure of his films.
New York was the biggest earner of the year before “Kambakkht Ishq” and “Love Aaj Kal” arrived. A clean hit at the box office, this Yash Raj production boasted of critical as well as commercial success. “The film helped me in a way that today even those people from the industry are calling me who has never done that before. I’m not holding any grudges though what’s the point in doing that?” said John.
With harsh criticism coming someone’s way, isn’t it natural to have bitterness? “No, I have actually never been bitter. Instead I have only tried to be as humble as possible. I guess the result is a film like ‘New York’. I hope to be doing many more such performance-oriented films. I work for appreciation more than anything else and I guess my time has started now,” explains the handsome hunk with utmost confidence.
Known more for his physicality, courtesy movies like “Dhoom” and the recent “Dostana”, it was a welcome shift for John to see critics warming up to his acting abilities “What a relief it was my physicality has been so overpowering but thankfully people looked beyond that in ‘New York’ and talked about my performance too,” said the actor who had earlier impressed audiences in Deepa Mehta’s Oscar-nominated “Water”. After movies like “Dhoom” and “Kabul Express”, John got an opportunity to work with Yash Raj Films again in “New York”.
“All credit to Adi (Aditya Chopra) who put so much faith in me and roped me in for ‘New York’. I remember telling Adi and Kabir (Khan): give me more of second half in the film and I will make sure that there won’t be a single moist eye in theatre. As you see, the climax is still being remembered for being such a heart-wrenching affair.”
But it doesn’t worry him who’s doing what in Bollywood. “I’ve studied economics, so I know that if somebody else’s film works, so will I as an industry,” he says. And he’s busy bench pressing in the gym towards his own benchmarks. He’s got severe tendonitis in both elbows, shin splints, he fractured the bones, severed the veins in his left foot in a 2006 bike accident, he broke the navicular bone in his right foot last year... yet, as his T-shirt suggests, John Abraham is aware that pain is temporary, pride is forever. “If you want to achieve something, you’ve got to go through pain,” he warns. “I’m trying to reach a pinnacle, at the gym, in films and life itself. I want to get to a point where I can say, yes, I’ve got what it takes.”
John is back to playing his gay self in the sequel to 'Dostana' with Abhishek Bachchan, says that the junior B has named him "jiggly poo". The actors became friends while working together in the gay comedy and continue to share the same equation. "After we starred together in 'Dostana', Abhishek has nicknamed me as his 'jiggly poo'. He sends me messages on my birthday saying 'Happy Birthday Jiggly Poo’!" remembers John.
The 37-year-old actor will be reprising the same role in the sequel too, which will be filmed from June this year. "The sequel will pick up from where 'Dostana' left off. So there is me and Abhishek playing the same characters again," he said. Promising that the sequel will be even more fun-filled, the actor said, "It is hilarious! I almost fell off the chair while reading the script, it is so funny!" say’s John, who made his Bollywood debut with 'Jism' in 2003, has proved himself as an actor with films like 'Water' and 'New York'.
Although John made his entry into showbiz as a model, he says that he had to struggle a lot to find his footing in the film industry, without a film lineage to back him. "I hail from the middle class and my values come from there. People identify with me because of that and look upon me for having acquired a position through sheer struggle without any backing in the industry," said John.
He made heads turn in his modelling days and went on to win hearts as the metro sexual man in Bollywood. John is now looked upon as a youth icon, an image he is totally comfortable with. "Once you are named a role model, it is up to you how you use it. I am happy with the position and am also aware of the responsibilities that come with it," he explains. His love for bikes is also something that connects him with today's youth, but John is against any kind of show-off and propagates safe biking. "I don't do any more stupid stunts, as I have realised that youngsters do follow me and try to ape whatever I do. I never go in for rash biking and ride really slow so that people do it too," said John. The actor also a unique collection of helmets along with the number of bikes he owns. "I mix and match helmets with bikes the way you mix and match clothes everyday," said John.
Right now the he is investing a lot of himself in his next “1-800 Love”. The film is being directed by Abbas Tyrewala and produced by Madhu Mantena of “Ghajini” fame. “This is yet another special film for me. We can’t go wrong with the film as we have made 200 percent sure that we’ve got everything right on the writing at the pre-production stage itself. In fact, I went through these formal script workshops for the film which was such a great experience,” he said.
John can’t be seen resting though before the end of year, he will have one more of his films hitting the screens - David Dhawan’s “Hook Ya Crook A UTV Motion Pictures production, “Hook Ya Crook” also stars Genelia D’souza, Kay Kay Menon, Shreyas Talpade and Sharad Kapoor with a special appearance by cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The film is set in a prison and revolves around a cricket match played among the inmates.
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