Film Fare

June and he managed
to release the film in
11 months despite
all the hurdles. The
most challenging
part was that they
had only 10 days to
market it. “People
didn’t know that
parmanu means
atom. It takes time
to educate people.
I was not making
a documentary
film. It’s a fastpaced
thriller,” he
says. “We fooled
Americans under
their noses to make
the test happen.
Honestly, the hero of
the film is Jai Jawan
and Jai Vigyan!
We owe it all to
them.” He recalls
a heart-warming
incident, which
occurred while he
was prepping for
Parmanu. “I met a
65-year-old man,
whose house had
developed cracks
after the nuclear
test in Pokhran. He
didn’t resent that.
Instead he said,
“Deewar toh toot gayi
par Hindustan toh
ban gaya na!’ I got
goosebumps hearing
that.”
John was proud
to wear the
Indian army
uniform. It
created a
moment of epiphany
for him and left him
in sheer respect for
the armed forces.
He realised he was
just a reel-life hero.
That the real heroes
are those putting
their lives on line
everyday guarding
our borders.
John collaborated
with Abhishek
Sharma for the first
time and is all praise
for the director,
who in the past
directed the avantgarde
film Tere Bin
Laden. “Abhishek’s
knowledgeable,
politically aware
and knows his
work. He’s an NSD
graduate. He held
workshops and
got some fantastic
stuff out of us,”
says the actor. John
is similarly gushy
I DON’T
EXPECT
ANYONE TO
HELP ME.
THEY’VE GOT
THEIR OWN
PROBLEMS IN
LIFE. HAIR
PROBLEMS,
FACE
PROBLEMS,
FILM
PROBLEMS...
about his co-star
Diana Penty. “When
she read the script,
she said that I don’t
care about my role,
I want to be part
of this story. She
had no complaints
even when we shot
in 45 degrees in
Rajasthan.”
Post Parmanu,
John isn’t resting
on his laurels
and has already
signed three films,
Nikhil Advani’s
Batla House, Milap
Jhaveri’s Satyamev
Jayate and Robby
Grewal’s RAW.
Says John, “I like
doing one film in
two years. Here, I’m
doing three films.
So, it scares me.
But these are such
good scripts that I
couldn’t say no.”
All three are action
films. However,
John insists comedy
is his favourite
genre. He’s a huge
fan of filmmakers
like David Dhawan,
Anees Bazmee
and Sajid Khan.
But he needs to be
convinced about
the story in order to
either act or produce
a film in the genre.
“Comedy is all
about writing. It’s
the most difficult
thing to make people
laugh. I would
love to do Garam
Masala 2 (the first
one was directed
by Priyadarshan).
Akshay (Kumar) and
I have discussed it
before. We’re looking
forward to doing
something like that.”
His eyes light
up when he talks
about his Desi
Boyz filmmaker
Rohit Dhawan.
“Rohit is a talented
filmmaker. I’m close
to his brother Varun
(Dhawan), dad
David (Dhawan) and
mom Laali. They’re
family.” He loved
watching Abhishek
Sharma’s Tere Bin
Laden as well and
would love to do a
comedy with him.
“The youngsters
are good. But I still
believe old school
filmmakers like
Anees Bazmee
(Welcome and
Welcome Back)
are outstanding,”
he declares. We
welcome that idea!