I marketed it all alone – went to places to market it, all alone. Then, when I saw the edit, I got up and said that this film was going to be big. When I said that, even Shoojit (Sircar) was sceptical about my seriousness.
Totally – I noticed the very germ of it, and realized that it was going to fly. Is there something that you noticed in it that made you take it up? The script of ‘Vicky Donor’ was such an unusual one. You didn’t go for a single one… you’re a very modest producer – but stay that way!” And what means a lot to me, is creating content, good cinema, but not screaming from the rooftop saying ‘I’ve done this!’. I remember meeting Shabana ji (Azmi) on the flight to Delhi yesterday, and she congratulated me and said, ‘The film won so many awards. I want to enjoy it a lot more and I’m doing so with someone like you who’s congratulating me for it (laughs). There’s seldom been an instance where a producer has struck gold with his very first venture. And then after that, I have ‘Madras Café’. I’ve already started thinking about what script I’d pick up after ‘Shootout…’. Now to match up to that will be an issue. It’s like I keep saying, it’d probably be a problem for me after ‘Shootout…’ to find a role like Manya Surve. ‘Shootout at Wadala’ is again, beyond a revelation because it’s massive it’s really big. ‘I, Me aur Main’ because the concept of me as an action hero is so strong that one of my friends who I showed the film to, she said, “From Action Abraham to Actor Abraham’.” She found the performance sublime called it ‘amazing’ and added that “I just hope people fall in love with this character!” I think I’m very excited about ‘Race 2’ because it’s releasing now. It’s like asking a parent which of your three kids is the best. Which one are you looking forward to the most? Three upcoming films – ‘Race 2’, ‘Shootout at Wadala’, ‘I, Me aur Main’. I like playing characters with shades of grey or a little negativity. It’s a small, sweet film that comes in between ‘Race 2’ and ‘Shootout at Wadala’. So I guess every woman is going to like that film. It’s a film that I’d made only for women. ‘I, Me aur Main’ has got me in a real way. Do you feel comfortable playing one? Do you prefer a negative role to one that is romantic? ’Dhoom’ last had you playing a negative character. We’ve still got about ten days of shooting left. From that angle, it was really tough but overall, it was a great shoot, great fun. When you see the film, you’d think that it’s great set design – which at some places, it was – but at others, there were real locations. So even in 2013, we had to shoot in places where Bombay looked like 1979 – and we found those places in South Bombay where Time had just stopped. We shot in areas where Bombay hadn’t moved in time. Fun – because it was shot in locations that were real. Outside of that, I think in terms of performance, I think it’s going to be a revelation. But the fact is that he was a very tough guy.
There’s only one shot – if you’ve seen the trailer – where you can see that.
Manya Surve was a Mumbai Shri - a professional body builder. We’d done a lot of research on Manya Surve from a photograph and we met a lot of people. Ya… I think it’s going to be a complete game-changer it’s going to be a second innings for me it’s going to be a shocker to an audience who’ll say that they’ve never seen John Abraham like this before. Excerpts from the interview:ĭo you think ‘Shootout at Wadala’ will be able to be your biggest film till date? Ananya Bhattacharya of, in a candid chat with the ‘Dhoom’ star, speaks about that very capability of his and a lot more. On celluloid, Abraham is able to capture as many hearts as off it. For John Abraham’s looks have now found their competition in his acting skills. Ten years down the line, they still do – and a lot more, at that. When the devastatingly handsome man stepped into the Hindi film industry a good decade back, girls fell hook, line and sinker for him.