John lived Manya Surve's life to portray him on-screen

To get under the skin of gangster Manya Surve, who was shot down by Mumbai police in their first official encounter in 1982, John Abraham lived his life for over a year while essaying the role for "Shootout At Wadala".

"I drew a lot of inspiration out of him. In a way, I lived his life, his character for at least one-and-a-half year to play this," John said here Tuesday at the launch of the song "Ala Re Manya" from the Sanjay Gupta-directed gangster drama.

"When you see the film, you will find that I am not John Abraham, I am Manya Surve," he added.

A string of actors like Anil Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee, Sonu Sood, Tusshar Kapoor and Kangna Ranaut too feature in the cast of the film.

Meanwhile, John, who has portrayed varied roles, finds himself more attracted towards negative characters.

Sharing his fascination for grey characters, John said: "Whenever I do negative roles, the films work. Last time I did a positive role, and the film did not work. I love negative roles."

"Normal is boring... Anyone can play a hero, to play negative has an edge," added John, who portrayed a baddie in "Zinda", "Dhoom" and "Race 2".

The intensity of his role will be unveiled when "Shootout At Wadala" will hit the theatres May 3.