John Abraham: I believe in creating trends, not following them

John Abraham, whose RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter)"is set against the backdrop of 1971 war with Pakistan, says following a certain trend to make money is a big no-no for him

Films focusing on the golden moments of India's defence history are currently in vogue but John Abraham, whose RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter) is set against the backdrop of 1971 war with Pakistan, says following a certain trend to make money is a big no-no for him.

The 46-year-old model-turned-actor has been a part of true-life-inspired defence stories like Madras Cafe, Parmanu... and now RAW. John says he has always found facts to be more interesting than fiction. "I feel even if you don't dramatise things at times, facts make the story very entertaining. They are more interesting than fiction," he told PTI in an interview over phone from London.

Citing the example of Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe, John said these films set the path for stories such as Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Badhaai Ho and Uri: The Surgical Strike. "I never look at a trend because the minute one looks at the trend and starts following it and it goes out of fashion, they are in trouble. So, I make what I believe in. Everything is cyclical. There is a phase when South Indian remakes are in trend, and sometimes comedies, realistic films or films on the country work well.

"As far as I am concerned, the idea is not to be opportunistic with a certain trend, but to do what you believe in. I believe in the country, I believe in the way the country functions," he added.

RAW, directed by Robbie Grewal, is based on true incidents and show how India's intelligence agencies, especially RAW, played a crucial part in the conflict. John, who plays a RAW agent in the film, said it is important to be responsible when dealing with stories revolving around the armed forces.

"One needs to be very responsible when you are making a film which is predominantly factual, is on the country and involves the armed forces. And one has to research well.

"In the case of 'RAW', my director's father worked in the military intelligence for four years. So the research and sources we got to go to, to back our information up, is validated. I am sure no one can turn around in our film and say, 'this didn't happen'. We are confident about our research and the information we are giving in our film."

The actor, however, said the aim is always to move people emotionally with the story, even if it is rooted in reality.
"It is important to make films entertaining and commercially viable. I am not making a film to educate people on 1971 War. I am making a film that speaks about human relationships. I want to move people emotionally in someway or the other and I want to make an edge-of-the-seat thriller," he added.

Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Ajay Kapoor, Vanessa Walia, and Gary Grewal, the film releases on April 5.

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