John Abraham: I was written off after my first film but, here I'm, 21 years and counting in cinema

Recently, John spoke with IANS, and shared that he believes in working towards building his future, and doesn’t look back at his professional journey, that’s the reason he was able to look past his initial failure, and capitalise on what was ahead of him.

He told IANS, “You are as good as your last innings. So, you have to look in front. Of course, it's very important for the film trade to know, and the audience to know your filmography. But, you as a person have to look in front. It’s for the audience to look at your filmography”.

He further mentioned that an actor has to constantly carve their filmography.

He shared, “A lot of people, when they see my filmography, they say, ‘You are not a one-dimensional actor. You have done a ‘No Smoking’, you have done a ‘Garam Masala’, you have also done a ‘Force’. So, I have done all kinds of genres and that's the important thing. You need to attempt all genres. Am I good at everything? No. Am I learning with every film? The answer is yes. I learn with every film, I learn with every director and grow”.

The actor, who was recently seen in ‘The Diplomat’, works on multiple fronts, he is the owner of NorthEast United, the ISL football team, he is a producer, and has made movies like ‘Vicky Donor’, ‘Madras Cafe’ and others, and then he has a passion for bikes, a whole different world in itself.

When asked how he compartmentalises these things, and how he dealt with success and failure in each of them, he said, “It's tough when your football team loses, and it's tough when your film fails”.

He told IANS, “But it's life, you must understand, and that's one thing that sport teaches you is how to accept defeat graciously. So, if your film has failed, you must accept it first. If your football team has failed, you must accept it and say, ‘Okay, we have lost. No problem. We will come back stronger, and we will fight’”.

And then came the lines that could serve as a solid shot of morale booster, he said, “I was written off after my first film. But, here I’m for 21 years and counting. So, who has got me till here? My audience. My critics may have said something, the film trade may have said something, my producers may have said something or my directors may have said something. But the only ones who have held on to me are my audience. They said, ‘No, we are not letting you go. We are going to hold on to you’. I am really grateful to my audience”, he added.