‘THIS FILM’S RELEASE WAS LIKE THE NUCLEAR TEST’

A happy John Abraham basks in the success of his film, Parmanu

Actor John Abraham’s vocabulary right now is full of positive words — “happy”, “fantastic”, “spectacular” pepper his conversation with us. No wonder, since he has scored a hard-fought win: his film, Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran, which weathered many troubles on its way to the theatres, has opened to good reviews and good collections. Here’s John talking about it.

Parmanu has got a good opening at the box office. How happy are you with the figures?

Honestly, considering the fact that we were clashing with the IPL semi-final, and we had absolutely zero time to market this film, the response is fantastic. I had said this on the record, that if we come close to even a fivecrore (rupees) opening on day one, as a commercial producer, that’s enough. What’s really encouraging is that the public response has been spectacular. People are clapping in the theatres, and yes, that for me is big. I made this film for India, not a noir audience; therefore, I’m very happy that India has responded positively.

There was also the legal battle (with a former backer over payments) that you had to fight to get the film released. You must be a relaxed man now?

Yes, absolutely, we had so many instances... I’m not getting into the details, but I’m thankful to the hon’ble (Bombay) High Court for validating exactly what I’ve been going through... There was a time when people even thought ‘this film is damaged beyond repair’. The fact that it released at all is a miracle. Its release was like the (Pokhran) nuclear test.

Was it tough to take a heavy subject like India’s nuclear tests and make an interesting film?

When I started researching for Parmanu, I went to this small town called Khetolai, which is close to the Pokhran range. I asked a 65-year-old man ‘Chacha, yahaan pe nuclear bomb test huye the, aap kahaan pe the?’ He said ‘Beta, main yahaan pe tha, mera deewaar phut gaya.’ Till today, he hasn’t repaired his wall, because he wants to tell the story about it. Before I could say anything, he said, ‘India toh ban gaya na!’

And I realised that day that I don’t want to make a complex film that’ll only appeal to a few people. I wanted to tell a simple story to the whole of India, with my director Abhishek Sharma.

You’ve donned the uniform for Paap (2003), and then Force (2011), Force 2 (2016) and Madras Café (2013). Does your reallife nononsense attitude come in handy while playing a uniformed man?

Yes, absolutely (smiles). Luckily for me, I am overly nationalistic, am an extremist. For me, India comes first, beyond anything else. I think that somewhere [that attitude] helps when I wear the uniform. Recently, a soldier told me, ‘I don’t see anybody in a uniform better than John Abraham’, and that’s a matter of pride, that you get endorsed by someone who wears it. For someone who only wears it on-screen, for him it’s wow!

Parmanu isn’t jingoistic in its approach. Raazi, which released recently, is also like that. Do you see a change coming in the way patriotism is portrayed in Bollywood films?

I think the fact of the matter is that I’d never make an overtly patriotic or jingoistic film. Parmanu, for me, was a thriller about Indians trying to do something in 30 days. Patriotism is a byproduct of what I do; the intent wasn’t to make a patriotic film. When you walk out of the theatre, you should say ‘Wow! This happened, I am proud to be an Indian.’ That’s what I’m aiming for.

Parmanu, for me, was a thriller about Indians trying to do something in 30 days. Patriotism is a byproduct of what I do. When you walk out of the theatre, you should say ‘Wow! This happened, I am proud to be an Indian.’ JOHN ABRAHAM ACTOR

PHOTO: HTBS/SARANG GUPTA