From his fantastic performance in the hit film Dostana to being named Asia’s sexiest, John Abraham is certainly on a roll. Next up for the actor is Kabir Khan’s New York, a Yash Raj film that co-stars Katrina Kaif. In a recent interview with Rachana Dubey, John talked about all this and more and here are some highlights from that interview.
Today, December 17th is John’s birthday, so what does he do to celebrate he was asked, “There are no plans yaar! I’ve cut plum cakes on my birthdays. Bipasha is big on celebrating my birthdays though. She organises the celebrations but they are thankfully never over the top. In fact, I like to pretend.. why get me a present guys?.. when I’m actually itching to open them. (Laughs). No honestly, I get really embarrassed to accept gifts.”
John is very excited about how well Dostana has been received, “I’m relieved. It’s a tremendous feeling when your film is received even better than you’d expected it too. I’m often told that Abhishek (Bachchan) and I make a cute couple and I laugh at that. (Laughs) I just hope no one thinks I’m blushing.”
It seems John was not sure the film would work with audiences but Bipasha Basu, John’s girlfriend, was sure that it would be a hit after she saw the film, “She watches my movies and tells me frankly whether they’ll work or not. When she watched Dostana with me, she said, ‘Listen, I think you can go home and sleep in peace now. This movie’s a surefire hit.’ I was still apprehensive.. I didn’t think it would work so positively.”
In the film, he and Abhishek Bachchan’s character pretend to be a gay couple in order to share an apartment with Priyanka Chopra. There was some worry the gay community would not accept the film but just the opposite has happened. “I was anxious to know what the gay community had to say about the movie. I’m glad that they appreciated our effort. They come up to us and thank us for acknowledging the fact that they are happy and proud to be gay.”
In his reel life, John has several projects in the pipeline. Both Aashayein and New York have finished shooting, Hook Ya Crook starts shooting in March and then it is on to Abbas Tyrewala’s next 1-800-Love.
It seems there still is no release date set for the drama Aashayein, “I’ve always stood by that beautiful movie made by Nagesh Kukunoor. The release has been pushed around because we didn’t find an appropriate release date. It’s made on a shoestring budget but it’s extremely rich in emotions. I’m hoping it releases soon.”
John just finished his work for New York and he says it was a difficult role that he was not sure he could do but that he really worked hard, “ When Adi (Aditya Chopra) offered the movie to me, he had said, ‘Read the script and tell me if you can deliver.. if you can handle it’. Adi and Karan (Johar) have given me huge projects when my chips were down. I’ve worked on Dostana and New York with fire in my belly. If Kabir Khan hadn’t believed in me, I don’t think I could have pulled it off.”
There were rumors that he and co-star Katrina Kaif did not get along and in response to that he said, “See, the fact that we weren’t getting along is just not true. So making up is as false as it can be. We were working on a project which is about three friends. So, a certain chemistry was essential. She and I spoke work and behaved like thorough professionals. There was no misconduct from either side. The shoot is over and we haven’t spoken since.”
The first promo for New York has been revealed and is getting a great response, “I’m told it’s superb. My cell phone is inundated with messages from Dubai, London, the U S.. and Mumbai. For now, I’m keeping my toes and fingers crossed.”
John will next be working on David Dhawan’s cricket based Hook Ya Crook, but the shooting schedule has been delayed, “Yeah, the shooting schedule has been postponed by 20 days.. starting January 8 to March 23 because I need to grow my hair. (Laughs) David (Dhawan) calls me every day to ask me if my hair has grown. I told him, “But you just called yesterday.. hair takes a while to grow.”
On to real life and of course there had to be a question about his seven year relationship with Bipasha and he was asked if he felt the fabled seven- year itch: “Seven-year-itch? You must be joking. I feel itchy every now and then. (Chuckles) I feel these seven years of being together have been made special by her. She’s a very simple and homely girl. I think we’ve both matured in our relationship.. we don’t believe in a public display of affection. We respect each other’s individuality. I believe that 40 years down, maybe love evaporates from a relationship, but mutual respect keeps it going. More than loving her, I respect her as a person.” However, about any plans for marriage between the two beautiful stars he would only say, “That’s too personal. No plans.”
So how does it feel to be named Asia’s sexiest man? “Actually, it feels great to be the sexiest of them all.”
We here at BollySpice wish John a very Happy Birthday and hope the hunkstar continues on this great roll and gets even better roles in the years to come!
