John Abraham slams journalist for ‘bad questions’

Mumbai, August 2 (PTI) “Can I call out bad questions and idiots” is how John Abraham responded to a journalist who said the actor was doing the same thing by turning up in back-to-back action movies.

Abraham, 51, who most recently played the villain opposite Shah Rukh Khan’s “Pathaan” last year, shot back at the journalist, saying, “Have you seen the movie?”

When the reporter said he had seen the trailer (of ‘Vedaa’), the actor, in a lighter tone, said, “Watch the film and then judge. And then I’m all yours. Whatever you say. But if you’re wrong, I’m going to turn you around and tear you apart.”

Abraham said “Vedaa”, which reunites him with Nikhil Advani after “Batla House” and “Satyamev Jayate”, is not just another action film.

“It’s a very emotional film. When you will see the film, you will understand what I’m talking about. It’s a beautiful emotional story. And I get moved sometimes when I see it in the edit. You get tears in your eyes, It’s beautiful,” Abraham told reporters here on Thursday.

Helmed by Nikhil Advani, the film is inspired from real life and revolves around caste discrimination. The titular role is played by Sharvari while Abraham is in the role of her mentor, former Major Abhimanyu Kanwar.

Advani said it is unfortunate that the topic he raised in the film is still prevalent in today’s time.

“It’s (the film) heavily fictionalized, but unfortunately, the germs in the seeds of what the story is and what Vedaa actually goes through is very prevalent, even in the country right now,” he said.

Advani said he was surprised that the film was stuck with the censor board when he had a good experience with them during the certification of his previous productions.

“We were actually really surprised that nobody was having a conversation. But eventually, I just have to say that I was floored by the way they approached it when they finally saw it and understood the context in which the film had been made.

“The revising committee really helped us. We already have the censor certificate,” he said addressing the delay in getting the film certified.

Sharvari, who is riding high with the box office success of “Munjya”, will be seen in an action avatar in the movie. The actor said the role demanded a lot from her.

“’Vedaa’ is the story of a very brave girl who gets a very brave coach. It’s their journey to justice. Of course, the character demanded a lot from me. The story is set in Rajasthan so you have to adapt to the language.

“It’s an emotional and brave story apart from the fact that there is a backstory that I have to build. It is not just about language, boxing or anything else. In a film the character journey usually starts from the middle. For example in Vedaa my character journey starts around 16-17 age but what happened and how her life was before that age was my prep,” she said.

“Vedaa” is clashing with Shradha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao “Stree 2” and Akshay Kumar’s multi-starer “Khel Khel Mein”. Producer Monisha Bhojwani said, “The phase our industry is going through. It’s important that we support all films.”

The film also features Abhishek Banerjee in a pivotal role, along with Tamannaah Bhatia in a special appearance.

Written by Aseem Arrora, ‘Vedaa’ is produced by Zee Studios, Umesh Kr Bansal, Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, John Abraham, and co-produced by Minnakshi Das. Presented by Zee Studios, Emmay Entertainment, and JA Entertainment, an Emmay Entertainment production, ‘Vedaa’ is slated to release in theatres on August 15.