John Abraham: I Like Being On Shaky Grounds

John Abraham is keen on surprising the audience and having them look at him anew with his next, RAW, based on the 1971 Indo-Pak war

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It's all about making the right choices for John Abraham now. Bolstered by the success of his last outings, Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran and Satyamev Jayate, which released last year, he now wants to surprise the audience.

"OMG, John can do this," is what he would like them to say. His upcoming film, Robbie Grewal's RAW - Romeo Akbar Walter, is one more way of making the audience sit up and notice him. He is currently shooting for Anees Bazmee's Pagalpanti in England. Abraham recently jetted into Mumbai for a day to launch the trailer of RAW. We caught up with him at a Juhu hotel. He's honest and forthright. Bollywood's beefcake wants to prove that there is more to him than just brawn.

The recent happenings along the Indo-Pak border have yet again brought to the fore the strained relations between the two countries. RAW is based in the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. "The timing is coincidental. We had always planned to release the film on April 5. It is so easy to drop words but that has never been our intent. We would never want to cash in on it."

As an actor, Abraham likes being a part of all types of cinema, but as a producer, he prefers subjects that are factual. "Fact is stranger than fiction," he says. "This does not mean that I will only stick to subjects about war and patriotism. After RAW, my next outing will be Nikkhil Advani's Batla House [based on the 2008 Delhi encounter against terrorists]. It is the most contentious topic after the Babri Masjid issue. What I like is telling real stories."