John Abraham on Choosing Films That Are Patriotic, Not Jingoistic
John Abraham’s take on the line between patriotism and jingoism.
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After the thundering success of Satyamev Jayate last year, John Abraham is back with his new release Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW). The film is an espionage thriller and The Quint caught up with John as he spoke about what attracted him to the film, hate on social media and his production plans.
John was seen last year in Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran which was based on real events, so was Madras Cafe in 2013, and now RAW is also inspired by real life events. When quizzed if this was becoming a pattern he said, “I like these stories, I don’t know why but I just love some of these stories and I just feel that they need to be told and sometimes I feel fortunate that they have come to me and I’m grateful they have come to me. I’m also doing Pagalpanti and it’s a madcap comedy with Anees Bazmee who I love and adore and I will be doing comedies after that again so I’ve not categorised myself as an action-hero or a real-life space enthusiast, comedies. I’m doing all kinds of films.”
A lot of films that depict Indo-Pak relations, tend to get jingoistic and one wonders if that was something the makers of RAW thought about. To this John said,
John has also been a brave producer with films like Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe, but laughs and says that he hasn't made money. “I haven’t made a lot of money because most of my partners have not paid me but that’s fine maybe they will pay me when they see this interview on The Quint. But the plan is to continue making the films I want to make because I want to tell good stories and I want to tell good stories that don’t necessarily have John Abraham in it,” said John.
Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW) releases on 12 April.
Video Editor: Veeru Krishan Mohan
Camera: Sanjoy Deb
Assistant Camera: Gautam Sharma
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