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Fuelled by fan power

John Abraham plays a conceited industrialist in Taxi No. 9211. But in real life, the handsome hunk is a down-to-earth bloke who believes he owes his stardom entirely to his audience

UNASSUMING STAR John Abraham: `My audience is my strength' Photo: RAJEEV BHATT

You may not fault John Abraham for replaying Dev Anand of Nau Do Gyarah (made by Vijay Anand in 1957) in parts in his recently released Taxi No. 9211. Anand's film has the protagonist Dev running to claim the fortune his father left him before dying, but the will is missing.

Here, John has his last day in the court to claim the fortune of Rs. 300 crores. But if we want to point fingers at anyone, we should be pointing them at Milan Luthria, the director this new Taxi No. 9211, and surely not handsome hunk John. You can definitely draw a parallel between Dev Anand and John. Just as Dev set the ladies swooning in his prime, John is practically mauled wherever he goes. In fact, an entire army of fans (mostly female) might descend on you if you dare accuse John of anything at all.

Milan recalls an incident that happened in Bombay during the shoot of the film: "From my left came John Abraham in his car chased by countless females, aged between 16 to 60. From my right appeared Nana Patekar followed by taxi drivers, rickshaw pullers. It made me realise that it is a perfect antithesis type of a jodi for my film."

John smiles at the compliment. He adds: "I was parked near a girls' college during the shooting. Within minutes some 5,000 girls were gheraoing me. It became so difficult to manage the crowd that I got into an auto to flee from the scene."

High on adulation

He's certainly candid about getting a high from all that adulation. "Look, there are three kinds of actors — one made by the industry, one made by the media and one made by the public. I am made by the public and I enjoy this status. It not only keeps me grounded as I am in direct touch with them, but I also believe it will lengthen my tenure as an actor. My audience is my strength. They won't let me fade fast. So I find no reason to have hang-ups with them," says John even as he gleefully poses with fans of all ages, especially female, signing autographs, during the promotion campaign for Taxi No. 9211.

This is a contrast to his screen persona in the film, where he plays young industrialist, Jai Mittal, who runs into a cynical taxi driver, Raghav Shastri, played outstandingly by the veteran Nana Patekar. The film is a 24-hour tale of their lives that reflects that "each individual is the same, and so are his needs, problems and hence the answers are the same too. So you should not blame others for what you are going through."

Says John of Patekar: "He told me laughingly that we are going to be the best jodi after Madhuri-Anil in `Dhak Dhak' and Salman-Ash in `Dhol Baaje.'" Incidentally, his heroine is Sameera Reddy who is a foil for his character by not letting him get away with everything.

Thanks to his first comedy Garam Masala, John has the hang of the genre. But this does not have too much comedy. "Here only situations are comic, so we didn't have to act funny." He is also ready with a few films that see their release this year — Kabul Express, Salam-e-Ishq and Happy Birthday by Shriram Raghavan.

RANA SIDDIQUI

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