John Abraham: Award functions are nothing but a circus

After Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe, John Abraham is back with another production – Rocky Handsome. Ahead of the release of the film, SpotboyE caught up with the actor as he spoke about it all – working with Nishikant Kamat, why he’ll never produce an adult comedy and how he’ll never attend an award show. Excerpts:


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Tell us about Rocky Handsome. You’ve said some action sequences in the film have never been seen in Bollywood before…
Actually, I wanted a film that’s very emotional. When I took Rocky Handsome’s script to Nishi (Nishikant Kamat, director), he liked it because the emotional angle is the strong point of this film. We thought about action only later. The only thing Nishi said was, ‘John, if we are doing action this time, it has to be better than Force (2011)’. We have taken it 10 steps ahead, literally. This time, I trained for a month in Thailand -- 14 hours daily, with fighters from Germany, Austria, Italy… across the world. For many action sequences, I trained under Kecha Khamphakdee, who has a team of stuntmen under him.


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Why did you select Nishikant to direct Rocky Handsome? You’ve done two films (Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe) with Shoojit Sircar and both were fantastic...
Rocky Handsome is the remake of a South Korean film called The Man From Nowhere (2010) and I felt that it’s really high on emotions. When I showed it to Sunir (Khetrapal, co-producer), he asked me, ‘Who would you go to, John, with this film?’ And my answer was Nishi, because no one can handle emotions as beautifully. I am fortunate Nishi liked the script. All he said was, ‘I’d like to turn it around a bit’.

As far as Shoojit is concerned, we are working on something. We’ll announce in the next 2-3 months. 


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Tell us about your never-seen-before action sequences...
We were very clear that Rocky (his character) is a killing machine. So, we decided to make the action very hand-to-hand and real. In all our sequences, we have tried to follow certain art forms. For example, we have incorporated Aikido (modern Japanese martial art) in some scenes. Aikido is all about using your opponent’s body weight to throw him down. In one sequence, we followed Hapkido (Korean martial art) and in another, we have just used knives. Nishi says these action sequences are the item numbers in our film.

Do you think you are pushing the envelope too far as far as action sequences are concerned?
No, when you sign up for action movies, you are bound to get hurt.  I was on crutches after Force 2 (he had to undergo 3 knee surgeries) and people would say, ‘Oh, he’s hurt’. I am an action hero and I don’t want sympathy. I have to get fitter, stronger and faster.


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Was it frustrating when you were laid up in bed?
Very because I was preoccupied with completing my schedules on time. In fact, one schedule of Dishoom got postponed because of my injury. However, Sajid Nadiadwala (the producer) called me up and said, ‘John, whenever a movie of mine gets postponed, it becomes a super-hit’.  Also, we finally shot in excellent weather in Abu Dhabi, so no complaints.


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How is your knee now?
I have got big knees. My mom is an Iranian and they have big knees. I can break people with these knees. So there are no precautions. Jokes apart, I am blessed with strong and heavy bones. I am 6’2” and weigh 94 kgs, so it’s very difficult to get me down.


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As a producer, will you ever make a film like Housefull or Welcome Back?
I’d like to produce a comedy, but not ones specifically like a Housefull or Welcome Back. I definitely won’t produce an adult comedy. I’m interested in producing an action comedy. There are certain genres I know I fit in. As far as my future projects are concerned, I am writing a script for Varun (Dhawan). I also like Tiger (Shroff) a lot.

Why will you never produce an adult comedy?
I don’t like or understand adult comedies. So, how can I produce them? As an audience, maybe I will enjoy some adult comedies, but it’s not in the DNA of my production company.


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You’ve always stated that you have been let down by good scripts in your career…
There has been a lack of good scripts. And some good scripts have happened before their time. The most recent example is Madras Cafe. Had we as a distribution unit and studio shown more faith in Madras Cafe, I can guarantee that it would have done well-- let’s not mention that a big A-lister film released around the same time (Chennai Express). Overseas, that film had 239 prints. I told the distributors that Madras Cafe should have at least 350 prints because it’s an international film. But we came out with 48 prints. My director, the film or my performance didn’t let me down, but the trade did.

Do you feel that Bollywood lacks good stories?
I think there’s a department we are lacking in -- screenplay. We have got fantastic stories to tell and I am happy to see Airlift and Neerja work.  It’s just that as studios, we need to put more faith in them.


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You said once that if your surname had been Khan, yours would have been a different story altogether. Today, do you love your surname for what it is?
I think this was one of those statements where I have been misquoted. Even if I may have said it; let me clarify, I am very proud of my surname. I have created my own path. I am not part of any coterie or camps; I don’t go to awards or parties. I do my own thing. Whenever people feel John is a commercial actor, they’ll see me doing a Kabul Express (2006), No Smoking (2007), Madras Cafe or Vicky Donor. That’s my plus -- I have a lot of self-conviction. I have been written and spoken about negatively at times; the trade has not shown enough faith in me at times, but even after all that, I am very proud to be a part of this fraternity.


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Why do you stay away from award functions?
I don’t like awards. Maybe I don’t deserve them, but I don’t like them either. It’s a TV function, right – when stars dance there, channels collect ad revenue? I have worked as a media planner, so I know. The winners are all deserving candidates. There can be one or two awards, but eight? That’s a circus.

If someone says you have won an award and invites you….
I won’t go. If someone says ‘I’ll pay you for coming and also give you an award’, I will still not go.

If someone sends it home?
I can’t not take it if someone sends an award home.