Pagalpanti director explains why macho man John Abraham is best suited for laugh riots
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; November 19, 2019)

It is difficult to dissociate John Abraham from the action hero image that he has built over the years. Yet, director Anees Bazmee — who has reunited with him for the upcoming Pagalpanti, after Welcome Back (2015) — believes that the actor is as much at home in a laugh riot as in an action fare.

"People may have a certain image of John, but after seeing the way he handled the scenes, I realised he takes comedy as seriously as I do. John has made himself comfortable in the genre over time. I have seen his growth as an artiste. There are several big actors who are brilliant, but they are not comfortable doing comedies. John has managed to carve his space in the genre," asserts Bazmee, heaping praise on his leading man.

The laugh riot also features Anil Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda and Urvashi Rautela. Handling an ensemble comedy is no mean feat, but Bazmee's penchant for multi-starrers is evident in his filmography. "I make sure that each actor has a significant part to play in the film. It is a challenge to bring so many stars together. I always start out with the idea of working with one hero and one heroine, but keep adding to the cast as the story develops. The more the merrier for me!"