Tweet

Actor-producer John Abraham talks about the forthcoming projects of his film company, including Jaffna, Hamara Bajaj and Kala Ghoda

He scored a bull’s eye with his debut production Vicky Donor, but actor-producer John Abraham says he hasn’t cracked any success formula. The success, he says, just lies in doing good work, and in knowing what makes the youth happy. He also got on to talking about his forthcoming films as a producer.

The 39-year-old cringed upon being asked how he managed to crack the “formula” in the first go. “See… honestly, if something goes wrong tomorrow, you’ll say ‘What went wrong?’ It’s normal! So rather than basking in the limelight and saying ‘Hey listen, everything is fine’, the important thing is to continue doing good work,” said John.

“I think the formula is very simple as far as I am concerned. As an individual, I believe I know what makes the youth happy in terms of films, and I want to make films for young people, who can go and say ‘Hey, this is really nice, this was a lot of fun and sensible too.’ So that’s the space I want to operate now and I am enjoying that space,” he added.

It’s unconventional for actors-turned-producers to let newcomers take centrestage, but John didn’t think twice about letting Ayushmann Khurrana act in Vicky Donor, a film with a subject as strong as sperm donation. The reason?

“I wanted to be a hands-on producer. Most actors produce films that they only act in. I wanted to make sure I make films that I believe in, even if the cast is otherwise. And I have a lot of faith in Ayushmann. I am producing another film with him. He is absolutely talented and completely a gem of a boy,” said John, who has cast Ayushmann for another film named Hamara Bajaj.

There are few other films in the making under John’s banner, he said. “Jaffna was a film in the making for about two years. Because of Jaffna, Vicky Donor happened. That was a film Shoojit Sircar and I were working on. Hamara Bajaj was also a film Shoojit was planning to make with a newcomer, so we decided to take Ayushmann in it.”

“The fourth film is Kala Ghoda. Besides this, we are making three more films, which we will announce later,” John said.

It will be a good mix of films, but primarily “commercial films with smaller budgets”, he said. “The important thing is casting right. These days, people make proposals, not films! So the important thing is to make good cinema. If Vicky Donor is a benchmark, then I guess people know the kind of films I want to make,” he said.