Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; June 6, 2020)

In a chat with BT, actor-producer John Abraham talks about why he has no complaints about the lockdown phase that we went through, how we should count our blessings and the way ahead for film releases. Excerpts...

Looking back at the last two months, was the lockdown difficult for you, given that you were in full work mode when the Coronavirus outbreak happened?
Most of us have first-world problems, which are not problems at all. I am not being philosophical here, I am painting the real picture. There are people living in these really small, 8x10 rooms, with an entire family holed up in that space. Migrant labourers are walking long distances, which has turned out to be fatal for some of them; daily-wage workers have no money to afford even the basics. The dichotomy between the haves and have-nots is stark. The life that we led over the last two months can hardly be called ‘life in the lockdown’. If someone had taken your phone, computer, data and modes of entertainment away, that would have been the real life-in-the-lockdown situation. It would have been deplorable if an actor complained about being in lockdown when he is blessed with so much; I have no complaints.

With a long list of films, both as a producer and an actor, how do you see the current situation impacting your work?
The lockdown has helped us recalibrate. In a situation like this, I will not give any knee-jerk reaction, saying that this is the date my film will release or this is the day we go back to shoot. I think we need to throw that thought out of the window and I say this as a part of this industry. Anyone with a plan in their head should understand that it will not materialise as easily. Theatres may open here at some point, but internationally, it might take time. There are so many factors like that, which will come into play for releasing and making our films in the current scenario. I want to take things as they come.

With uncertainty looming large, do you think that we will see more films that were made for theatrical release, now releasing on OTT platforms?
I am sure producers will think of releasing their smaller films on OTT platforms. Most of these platforms are hungry for content and even they would be reaching out to producers. It’s going to be a joint decision between the producers, the actors and the director. However, big-budget films would wait it out and release in theatres.