50 shades of John

Back in the limelight after ages, John Abraham says, “It’s good that I am coming back after a break. This break was very much needed. When you are doing a few films back-to-back, you need to take a break to recharge.”

In a nostalgic mood, the actor recalls how nobody had faith in his last flick Madras Cafe which turned out to be critically acclaimed. “I remember all the big production houses didn’t even take five seconds to reject the content of Madras Café telling us  — ‘John doesn’t have any action, also there is no romance between Nargis Fakri and John’.

We took almost six years to ready the script and they just threw it out in five seconds. Finally, we decided to produce the film ourselves. And I am proud of the fact that I am doing what I am best at — looking and sorting out  good content.” About  his upcoming film Welcome Back, he says, “I am back to doing what I do best — comedy.” After this, there is Rocky Handsome, which will release next year.

Apart from these films, he is busy with his North-East football team. “This is a year round job for me. Football is the new cricket, as a lot of youngsters between the age group of 15 and 24 today are watching football. Baichung Bhutia helped us a lot in the team selection.”

Talking about his sport-centric childhood, John says, “I was the centre forward in our football team in school. I would also finish a 100-metre race in merely 11 seconds. I was very good at shot-put and javelin throw too. I  would get the Best Athletics Championship in school every year.”

Moving on to being considered a sex symbol, John laughs and says, “Jism, Dostana and  Dhoom  may have come and gone, but you become the Mr Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey) of India without wanting to be so. A six-year-old girl in Rocky Handsome  says to me, ‘Tum bhaut handsome dikhte ho’!”

Coming back to football, John will star in director Shoojit Sircar’s biopic on Sibdas Bahdhuri who captained  Mohan Bagan’s team in 1911. Talking about the film, John says, “The film is titled 1911, but Shoojit won’t  start shooting until he is satisfied with the script.”