John Abraham has his plate full — with Mumbai Saga behind him, he is shooting for Mohit Suri’s Ek Villain 2 while looking forward to the Eid release of Satyameva Jayate 2. Though the Milap Zaveri- directed first instalment was a commercial success, it had opened to poor reviews. Asked if they kept the first outing’s feedback in mind to design a better sequel, the actor says, “I thought Satyameva Jayate was a smart film. I don’t give a sh*t about critics who didn’t like it. I am not being condescending towards reviews, but lately, they have become a joke. There are people on YouTube who have a lot to say about a film. Satyameva Jayate had elements of Deewaar [1975] in it, and that’s what drew me to the franchise. My reason was clear — I believed in the film, but above anything else, I like Milap. People who criticize me aren’t feeding me.”

Abraham believes that Zaveri has a finger on the audience’s pulse, making him the perfect fit to helm the upcoming vigilante actioner. “Once, Milap asked me, ‘What will you do if Satyameva Jayate 2 fails?’ I told him I will work with him again. The worst-case scenario will be that our budget for the third film will be Rs 5 crore. Milap has tremendous conviction when it comes to mass cinema. I have signed up to do that cinema, and if people don’t like it, it’s fine. But those who do, will devour it.”  

Acknowledging that he is exercising his beliefs strongly now, Abraham says he is happy to chase stories instead of big filmmakers. “If my career has to head towards success, it can’t lean on big names. The young directors I have worked with have become big names after doing films with me. I am an industry by myself, and make my own kind of movies,” asserts the actor, who has Nikkhil Advani’s Gorkha in the pipeline.