Media365
It would be correct to say that John Abraham has carved his path in the film industry. The actor started as a model, turned to the silver screen in 2003, ventured into film production with Vicky Donor (2012) and now co-produces most of his projects.
John, last seen in Vedaa, shared with Republic how his movies may not work at the box office as much as others as they are story-driven and lack popular and crowd-pulling elements like a dance number or a romance track with the heroine.
He laments that all “missing” elements affect the film’s business and hopes the audience becomes more supportive of the projects he picks in the future. Appearing on Nation First with Republic Media Network Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami, John reflected on the non-peformance of his “brand of cinema” at the box office. “They (the films) do not follow a commercial formula. I don’t have a dance, I don’t have a hero. Most of the time my wife dies in the beginning so I continue from there. So, I have a problem selling these films, but I hope we get braver in the community,” he shared.
Speaking about turning producer to support the kind of storytelling he is more inclined towards, John also touched upon how often his movies’ potential would often get overlooked due to initial skepticism around the subject matter and how the audience and the naysayers’ perception would change after they worked well at the ticket window. He hinted that the “struggle” to tell good stories is an ongoing one and he endures losses often in the films that he produces and stars in.
“Anybody couldn’t have faith in the film until they see the response. They are getting better as they seen the response. I am doing a film on Major Samar Toor. I am playing him in a film called Malakkal which is his story about when he went to South Sudan. I am still having a problem selling my films. Because my first film was Vicky Donor, no one wanted to touch it. My second film was Madras Cafe, where people said, ‘Oh it’s going to fail’. The third film was Parmanu. They don’t have faith in films like The Diplomat. But when it does well, the same people say, ‘Oh we told you it would be great’. This happened with Madras Cafe also. Before, it was made, people asked me how I’m going to make up after the film fails. But the film went on to make several National awards.” John shared.
“I want to tell good stories, but the stories that are good for me may not necessarily be good for a studio. When a film does badly, I walk away with zero, zilch. I earn nothing. Which is absolutely okay,” he added.
