By Hindustan Times
It’s been nine years since John Abraham made a sizzling debut in Jism (2003). And now the model-turned-actor, who has an MBA degree, is raring to construct himself as an “honest, credible, commercially viable” brand with three verticals: actor, producer and director.
And, perhaps even scriptwriter. His role model is Farhan Akhtar who started off as a writer-lyricist, before moving to producing, directing, acting and singing in movies. Today, he balances all his roles.
“Acting will always be my focus, and the big-budget films that outline John Abraham reminiscent of Housefull 2, Race 2 and Dostana 2 will keep coming. But I also have the desire to make commercial, entertaining movies that reflect my ideology. I WOULD LIKE all of the verticals to co-exist in a revenue model that benefits my studio and the paying public, ” he says.
John’s been working closely with Sanjay Gupta on Shootout At Wadala, which went at the floors on Thursday. For now, the actor have been reading up on Manya Surve and meeting people who knew the late gangster.
He’s also been brainstorming with Shoojit Sircar on Vicky Donor, JA Entertainment Pvt Ltd’s maiden production that opens on May 11. In September, his second production, Jaffna will kick off.
“Shoojit was surprised I knew such a lot about Sri Lanka and its history. I’m very socially and politically aware and know more concerning the world than what’s happening in Bollywood. I'VE BEEN writing so much recently, mostly fiction. Maybe one of the crucial stories could become a screenplay and that i could turn director,” he says, adding, “If the theory is good, I MAY fly with it next year or in two years or maximum five years.”
After almost a decade, actor John has turned the corner. And the excitement is that post his break-up with Bipasha Basu, he’s found the very best match in Priya Marwah with whom he secretly tied the knot in L. a. earlier this year.
He laughs off the rumours, “Married? Thank God there aren’t any children yet. I’ve always been fiercely guarded about my personal life, so all I’ll say is that there’s so much happening in my life now. It’s a brand new beginning.”
Jaffna in Sri Lanka
“George Clooney’s geopolitical thriller, Syriana (2005) ranks amongst my favourite films and that i wish to enter the similar space with Jaffna,” says John, who’s gearing as much as go shoot his second production in Sri Lanka with local artistes.Previously, his film Water (2005), which was nominated for the Oscars,was filmed in Sri Lanka. Refusing to divulge more, John insists that Jaffna will transcend the LTTE and the contentious Tamil issue and surprise individuals with a well-researched story about what actually happened in Sri Lanka.
