John was under pressure!

By Subhash K Jha

John admits he's under pressure. "And it's all coming from within me. I've done something I've never done before. Mr Ravi Chopra has put a lot of faith in me by putting me in Baabul. It has a full-on cast.

All of them have proved themselves in mainstream cinema. I'm new to this set-up. It made me nervous in the beginning. I had to break my mind-set as an actor. I hope I've been able to carry off this kind of cinema.

When I dubbed and saw what I had done I must say I was very very happy. Now gimme more pariavrik films. Middleclass women, here I come."

Though John's role (of the man who wants to marry the widowed Rani) was tough to cast, John jumped at it. "I heard the script. It moved me to tears. If a script sounds good all the characters will shine. The important thing is to not fall so much in love with your role that you forget the larger picture. In Baabul everyone contributes to the emotions and drama."

John Abraham is thrilled by his first parivarik. Has he so far missed out on family audiences? "Well…. I endorse the children's tv channel Hungama. But yes, I've never done a film aimed expressly at a family audiences. Whether it's Jism, Aetbaar or even Dhoom, these weren't aimed at family viewers. But surprisingly children are my biggest fans. That's really heartening."

Vishal Bhardwaj who's producing the John starrer No Smoking informs me that his young son Aasman is a huge John Abraham fan. "That's so sweet," the actor enjoys the thought of reaching out to the young.

"When you've the kids on your side, you get the moms and dads as a bonus."

John admits he has never done a film like Baabul before. "The audience has never seen me in this kind of film before. It's important for me to try to see how the audience accepts me in this mainstream film with such huge mainstream actors like Amitji, Hemaji, Rani and Salman."

Baabul is about widow rehabilitation. John has full faith in cinema's power to heal. "This film can have as much impact as Ravi Chopra's earlier film Baghban. I believe that film actually changed people's mind-set. After seeing Baghban people in the cities went back to their villages to get their parents. If my Baabul or Deepa Mehta's Water encourages even one man to extend his hand to marry a widow I'd feel happy."

John says he comes from a generation that believes everyone has the right to live with dignity. "I see no problem in a woman getting married again. I can't understand how anyone can be prevented from re-marrying."

http://www.santabanta.com/cinema.asp?pid=12841

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