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In a foreign land

A step ahead! John Abraham in New Delhi

Supported by crutches, and his bodyguards, John Abraham limps into the PVR complex at Ambiance Mall on MG Road. “I was hurt during the shooting of Hook Ya Crook,” he says carelessly, putting the crutches aside as he sits down. John’s New York was released last week to critical appreciation response. In this film directed by Kabir Khan — John’s second with Kabir after Kabul Express — he plays Sameer, an NRI Muslim in New York, whose equations with his friend and beloved Maya (Karina Kaif) change after he is detained following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

To play a Muslim boy, if he read the Quran, he also made his own efforts to see what went wrong in New York after the Twin Towers attack. “The most important thing that upsets you is that you feel like a prisoner, not only being a Muslim but also because you have inherited brown skin. The attacks may have begun on Muslims post 9/11, but they spread to Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Africans. Reading the private research notes or meeting people whose families underwent immense mental torture during these times, rendered me restless.”

Shooting for the much talked about nude scene apart from the water boarding torture scene made him realise how brown skinned people lived on the edge after the attacks on the Twin Towers. “I used to go to bed with a heavy heart and wasn’t exactly able to eat properly. Specifically after doing the water boarding torture scene, in which the undertrial is made to lie on a bed of water and hit from beneath so that water comes out of his nostrils, making it difficult for him to breathe. I have heard that detainees are put under water like that for five to 10 minutes. I couldn’t stay there for even a few seconds,” shares John.

The actor also read the Quran to justify the role of Sameer and “to deliver dialogues convincingly. It cleared many of my own doubts too,” he says adding he felt “sorry to see how Islam is being misinterpreted by a section and we all have to pay for their ignorance”.

The film has songs, dances and romance too. John believes that it doesn’t dilute the subject. “You preach and no one would listen to you. You say it entertainingly and get them hooked. You need to say subtly that such issues become a problem when prejudices come even in the government policies,” he philosophises.

As an actor, if films like Dostana keep him going, New York, Water and Kabul Express, John admits, come as “the reality check”.

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