I Stand by Akshay Kumar: John Abraham on ‘Rustom’ Costume Row

Akshay and Twinkle have been served legal notice and accused of “playing with the sentiments” of the armed forces.

John Abraham speaks up on Rustom controversy row.

(Photo: Yogen Shah)

John Abraham, who will be seen donning army uniform in his upcoming film Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran, said he stands by his actor friend Akshay Kumar's decision to auction the naval costume he had worn in Rustom.

Akshay and his wife Twinkle Khanna have been served legal notice and are accused of "playing with the sentiments" of the armed forces by putting up for auction a naval costume from his film Rustom.

"I am not going to be politically correct but I stand by him," John said.

The director of Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran, Abhishek Sharma said Col Brijmohan Sharma helped the team with the research for the film.

"Col Brijmohan Sharma was on board, he is retired now. He was in charge of the orientation test. He made sure everything from the army camp to the uniform and behaviour was taken care of," Abhishek said.

"He did not care if someone was actor or not, he would just pull us up, saying, what is this? He was clear he wanted things to look clear," John added.

The 45-year-old actor-producer decided to go solo with Parmanu... after his production house terminated partnership with Prerna Arora's production house over material breaches and bad reputation.

Prerna's company, accused John's banner for not fulfilling their commitment to finish the project.

"At one point I called up Abhishek saying this is too much happening and he would tell me, look at the positive side, there is publicity. We would motivate each other as we have not done anything wrong, we are honest and it will happen right way.

"It is difficult when someone points finger at you, at your company, you don't like it. This film is like my child, you feel like turning around and tearing apart. I am not being violent. It has all ended well. My producers, cast and team is here and it is important to me."

Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran was earlier scheduled to release in December 2017 but reportedly got delayed to avoid a clash at the box office with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. The release was later postponed thrice owing to the dispute. And now it is set to arrive in theatres on May 25.

"It is a fantastic film and I want audience to see the film. It is about your credibility and what you stand for. So we fought our way. Abhishek is a legal person and he stood by me. Everyone forgets controversies and everyone is going to talk about the film and its quality that will speak for itself.

"If its good people will talk about it and if they don't like they would not talk about it. We think we have made a good film. Thank you media for support. We don't have the luxury of time but we have the luxury of fantastic subject," John said.

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