John, the journalist!
RANA SIDDIQUI
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As "Kabul Express" releases this Friday, John Abraham shares his experience of being a part of this interesting film.
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PHOTO: PTI
IN FOCUS John Abraham says he has returned enriched from the experience of shooting in Afghanistan for 45 days.
Stories based in international locations are not new in Bollywood. But when it comes to noting down the names of movies with conflict as the backdrop, we have only patriotic sagas based on the Indo-Pak disturbances over the decades. So, we have "Vijeta", "Train To Pakistan", "Border", "LOC - Kargil" and "Gadar - Ek Prem Katha", etc., not to mention Chetan Anand's "Haqeeqat" that came out soon after the Chinese aggression. And this Friday, we have another name to count, debutantedirectorKabir Khan's "Kabul Express". But the movie from Yashraj Films has a first attached to it. A story based on a pack of journalists, two of them Indian, on the hunt for a "scoop" in the Taliban-infested Afghanistan, it is the first film to be shot in that country under life-threatening circumstances. Surely a one-of-a-kind war film from Bollywood that goes beyond Pakistan. Well then, those who dare to make such films must be applauded for their effort. An endeavour that almost seems thwarted when at times, many actors working in them hardly seem to be affected by the experience. For them, acting in such films remains just a part of the "director's dictates". Known to be very shy, Sunny Deol, when asked by the media about his personal experience of working in "Ghadar... ", had said, "What do I say, I liked it". Similarly, most of the cast of "LOC - Kargil" had very little to share except the hostile weather conditions in the hills of Kargil
John Abraham, who plays the role of Suhel Khan, a television journalist from India, in "Kabul Express", too doesn't respond promptly when he is asked for his perspective on such films, but on coaxing, he does come out with some observations. "What perspective?" he first wonders. "I don't understand. I just had to follow my director's dictates. I am a director's actor. But the experience was nice... " As Suhel, he goes in search of a "scoop" in Afghanistan and meets the Taliban along with four other journalists of different nationalities. How, in pursuit of that scoop, they get trapped and face a life-threatening situation is what the film is all about. Coax him a bit more and he thinks one is on the lookout for some "masala". Though after shooting in that country for over a month, John quite excitedly talks about the locals. "It was great! People did identify with me. Maybe because my mother is an Iranian. I found them simple. They surrounded me. They took my autograph." He says, "It was `shocking' for me to see that there was a John Abraham haircutting salon, John Abraham photo studio in a mazaar-e-shareef. But conveniently they changed my surname from Abraham to Ibrahim! They believe I am a son of the soil because my mother is an Iranian. So there is a kind of affinity towards me."
Double trouble
The experience of playing a hard news journalist, the actor says, has changed his perspective about journalists. "Now, I respect journalists more. And I believe film journalism is far easier than political journalism. So it is always better to play a war/political journalist for it seems to have more challenges," he states.
One learns that the Taliban didn't like the idea of having a film shot there, that too, on them. Says director Kabir Khan, "They didn't want that through this film people outside Afghanistan should get to know what they dictate and how they do it. So they did everything possible to thwart our efforts. But the Afghan Government gave us security cover and so did the Afghan intelligence."
So, "there were a couple of suicide bombers here and there and a few missiles flying overhead warning of death for the crew."
John says he was advised by Indian intelligence that his life was in danger.
He recalls, "So I spoke to my producer Aditya Chopra and they stalled the shooting for three days. The following days amazing security arrangements were made. The credit goes to Kabir, the Indian embassy in Afghanistan and the Afghan Government for providing enough security for us. So much so that there were more security guards than unit members on the sets."
Due to work pressure and lack of rest, John developed a temperature of 102 degrees, and discovered he had typhoid.
Besides John, the film has Arshad Warsi in a part far removed from Circuit. Also, "Kabul Express" has quite a few international actors. Among others, there isSalman Shahid from Pakistan and Hanif Hunghom from Afghanistan. Working with them did bring some "underlying tension at the start between these two actors," says John, attributing it to their differing worldviews.
"But Hanif and Salman have done a fabulous job in the movie. It takes some doing to play the role that Salman has."
The film has already been screened at the Toronto Film Festival to considerable appreciation.
"There was all this talk about the North American press being a little apprehensive about the film. They thought it was trivialising things after a serious situation like 9/11. We had two screenings, one for the North American audience and the other for the Asian audience, predominantly Pakistani, Afghani and Indian. Both the screenings got standing ovations," says John.
Also, John says not just he but the entire crew of the film feel after the shooting that "Indians have done a lot for Afghanistan." As John states, "Roads, educational institutions, hospitals, museums all are built by the Indians, and the Afghanis love the Indians to death. After God there is Hindi movies. And that's like religion for them."
So, it seems no matter what the constitution of the cast the subject of such films remains more important than the stars.
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