John Abraham believes things won’t go back to the way they were anytime soon
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 21, 2020)

Actor John Abraham’s heart beats for India, and this is evident not only from the kind of films he does but also from his words and actions. And while the Coronavirus situation is certainly stressful, he feels that it has brought everyone together.

“The police, army, medical professionals and all of them — these are your warriors… They are the real-life superheroes. Situations bring out unlikely heroes, and this pandemic has brought out the likeliest ones,” says the 47-year-old.

A poem Abraham recited about the situation, Mera Bharat Mahaan, has gone viral, and garnered more than a million views on his social media handles within two days. “The credit goes to Milap [Milan Zaveri, director]. He penned and WhatsApped it to me. I said, ‘This is beautiful’, and it took me a couple of minutes to recite it... I think it’s good to have something that’s positive and not controversial, still Indian at heart, which people will relate to. It will probably foster unity somewhere,” the actor says.

With people divided over whether one should announce their donation amount or not, we raise the issue with Abraham, too. “People who announced have done fantastic jobs. (But) people like me wouldn’t make it public, not even through a subversive way,” he responds.

Talking about something that “sent shivers down” his spine, the actor reveals, “It was scary. Someone in the business told me, ‘This is your time to buy goodwill’. We are faced with a real-life situation, and it’s not time to, ‘buy’ goodwill!”

Life in lockdown, as Abraham describes, has not been a “drastic change” for him. He anyway prefers “home-cooked food, comfort of his house”. Requesting people to self-isolate, the actor adds, “People who are expecting things to get back to the way they were, on May 4, let’s wake up and smell the coffee, nothing is going to be normal till the end of this year. It’s going to be a new ‘normal’.”