Some films without nuance or craft taking advantage of hyper political environment: John Abraham

We are living in a hyper political environment with religion conclusively dividing society and some films “without nuance or craft” are taking advantage of that to bring in the numbers, says a tough talking John Abraham.

Films can be patriotic in a restrained and responsible way without being jingoistic, adds the actor, who has done a series of geopolitical thrillers in recent years and was last seen in ZEE5’s Tehran.

“There are films that are patriotic that make a lot of sense,” Abraham said, citing his film The Diplomat, which saw the actor in the role of diplomat J P Singh who rescued an Indian woman from Pakistan.

“Not because I have done it, but The Diplomat is one of those films where you’re not jingoistic, you’re not beating your chest. But you are patriotic in a resilient, silent, and restrained way,” the actor said.

Beginning his journey in movies with the 2003 film Jism and working through comedies such as Garam Masala and Dostana, the actor has moved on to films on politics and diplomacy with Madras Cafe, Parmanu and The Diplomat.

“Please understand and remember my words, I think we are living in a hyper political environment where religion is dividing us very conclusively, which is not the most conducive environment to live in.

“Some films are taking advantage of that and bringing in the numbers. That’s really unfortunate to see because when you see certain films, you see there is no nuance or craft there, but you see that there are tropes. And it is a scary sight to see today,” Abraham said.

According to Abraham, propaganda films will continue to be made as moviemaking is a creative space where you are allowed to make the kind of films you want to.

He turned producer with Vicky Donor in 2012 and his recent releases have mostly focused on stories inspired by real incidents, be it Madras Cafe, set during the Sri Lankan civil war and Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, or Parmanu, a film about the 1998 nuclear bomb test explosions in Pokhran.

“My responsibility is making films that are very balanced… Our audiences will stay on for way longer than the films that just want to take advantage of a situation. That is important to know,” he said.

As far as making money is concerned, one can do that through commercial and fun films like Pathaan, according to the actor who played the antagonist in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer.

“They can make you money. You don’t necessarily need to take advantage of a system to make money. That’s a personal choice you have to make. I have made the choice that I would not take advantage of that though I am very equipped to do so. But I won’t do that because that’s not where I come from. That’s not my fabric.”

“That’s not the way I’ve been brought up. I’ve been brought up as a person who needs to be a responsible citizen of this country, who needs to say responsible things. Now, am I right all the time? Definitely not. I could make mistakes, but I would want to be more right than wrong,” he added.

Abraham said he loves playing the occasional bad guy whether in Dhoom or most recently in Pathaan.

The key, according to the actor, is to believe that the movie is structured around one’s character.

“Whenever I played a bad guy, I’ve been an anti-hero, not a villain. I think it’s very important to believe that. In Dhoom, I believed in my head that the film is centred around me and my co-star is my motorcycle. That was it.”

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Similarly, he said, in Shootout at Wadala he was the gangster but imagined his character to be the central hero.

“Unless you write films around antiheroes, You won’t make them larger than life. So I believe that stereotypical villain of 70s, 80s and 90s, maybe that ended. Now you have franchises like Dhoom, which are villain-led franchises. Those lines between hero and villain are now blurred and I think that’s the way forward now which is beautiful.” he said.

Tehran, a Maddock Films production streaming on ZEE5, is a fictionalised account of a true event that unfolded against the simmering global tension between Israel and Iran. It draws inspiration from the 2012 bomb explosion near the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi.

Directed by Arun Gopalan, the film features Abraham as ACP Rajeev Kumar, who is pulled into a covert operation that spans continents, ideologies, and fractured alliances.