BOMBAY TIMES (February 25, 2020)

A biopic on the life of social entrepreneur Revathi Roy will be produced by John Abraham’s JA Entertainment along with Robbie Grewal’s Red Ice Films and Anil Bohra’s Vyka Entertainment. Revathi brought about a revolution when she started Asia’s first all-female taxi service and the first all-woman last-mile delivery service. The film has been adapted from the book, Who Is Revathi Roy, by Swati Lodha.

Early in her enterprise, Revathi made an incredible decision that would defeat every possible stereotype, social and financial, about women and also the ones in business. She decided that her staff would consist only of women who were below the poverty line. Today, Revathi has trained and empowered many such women enabling them and their families to live a life of dignity and financial independence.

Talking about the project, John says, “I am very happy that we are producing this upbeat story that combines the best of entrepreneurial twists with a dramatic personal life. Revathi’s journey is that of a vivacious, funny, spirited woman, who despite all odds has risen like a phoenix and has been working towards empowering underprivileged women. It’s a story that we just had to tell and who better to do that with than Robbie.”

Robbie, who will also be directing the film, adds, “Revathi’s life is full of dramatic twists and turns. We usually see stories about how people rise from rags to riches; Revathi went from riches to rags to a revolution. It is an honour to be able to tell the story of such a heroic and courageous woman.”

On her part, Revathi says, “I am very happy that John, Robbie and Anil have come together to tell a story, which is not just my own, but of every woman who was given a chance. Women are born fighters and an opportunity given to them never goes waste. All we need to provide is an ecosystem for them to flourish. In a small way, that is what my team and I have done.” The film is currently in the pre-production stage.

MID-DAY (December 9, 2019)

After bringing the 1897 Battle Of Saragarhi to the big screen earlier this year, Sunir Kheterpal, the producer of Kesari, has greenlit a film based on the life of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, who currently serves as the officer on special duty to Agriculture Ministry.

Nagpal burst into the national spotlight in 2013 when she blew the lid on the illegal sand mining mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. This led her to getting stuck in a political conflict, with the Uttar Pradesh government suspending her for allegedly demolishing an illegal mosque wall in Greater Noida. After a growing demand from various political parties and public for her suspension to be revoked, Nagpal was reinstated to duty with full honour. Khetarpal has teamed up with Romeo Akbar Walter maker Robbie Grewal for the movie.

The duo is currently in talks with several female actors for the central role. "Our priority is providing entertainment to audience while not compromising on powerful content. With the story of Durga Shakti, we want to make the audience aware of this ideal hero," says Khetarpal. Looking forward to roll the project in mid-2020, Grewal says it's a "privilege" to narrate Nagpal's story.

BOMBAY TIMES (April 4, 2019)

John Abraham’s upcoming espionage thriller Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW) is one of those rare Indian films that travels across the length and breadth of India. Set in the tumultuous period of 1971, the film is based on true events that impact the future of three countries — India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. To retain the authenticity of a region, writer-director Robbie Grewal made sure to shoot in real locations of Mumbai, Gujarat, Kashmir, parts of North India and also, Nepal within a well-planned 46-day schedule. The crew did an extensive recce and research to recreate India and Pakistan of the bygone era of the 1970s.

SKIPPED PUNJAB LOCATION FOR GUJARAT TO RECREATE PAKISTAN IN INDIA
A major chunk of the film has been shot in remote locations across Gujarat. Robbie explains, “Authenticity and accuracy is what we focussed on while scouting and filming it on real locations. We shot in places like Vansda, Rajpipla, and the unique Moti Bhamri village that looks preserved in time. Places like Dharmaj, old Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Palitana, Rajkot and Gondal actually look like Muslim residential areas and busy towns of the past. We avoided typical Gujarat locations because our aim was to be true to our story’s requirements, which is about a spy working across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the seventies. I had to create Pakistan in India, and Junagadh in Gujarat served as the perfect location for that. It has no malls, and is almost a virgin city in terms of film shoots. Interestingly in the past, there was a court case that argued that Junagadh is technically a part of Pakistan.”

Most of the film’s action takes place in Pakistan. Since accessing any location there is impossible, Robbie had to improvise and plan ahead. “Most recent Indian series have been filmed in a place called Malerkotla in Punjab to capture Pakistan, so they do end up looking similar. For some bizarre reason, no one has explored these locations in Gujarat yet. So we built a set here and shot the film,” he reveals, adding, “Kudos to our production team that worked really hard to find such suitable locations.”


‘IN KASHMIR, WE EMPLOYED LOCALS TO BE A PART OF THE FILM’S SHOOT’
Since John essays the role of a RAW agent, he is seen traversing the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent. So it also became essential to film in Nepal and Kashmir, as a crucial portion of the story is set there. Robbie informs, “We shot in Pokhara in Nepal, an old fashioned, quaint town which is about 5-hours drive from Kathmandu, the capital city. Not just that, the locations were brilliant and the food was absolutely fabulous.”

Talking about his fantastic experience of shooting in Gulmarg and Srinagar, he says, “We had a great time shooting in Kashmir. People out there are tremendously helpful. I have shot at both the locations in the past, too. I think the problem with Kashmir today is lack of work. I feel fortunate that RAW in some way contributed to it by employing the locals to be a part of the film’s shoot. At the end of it, everyone was happy.” Lastly, the film’s interior portions were shot on the sets in Mumbai.

In a day and age where special effects, visual editing and studio locations dominate filmmaking, Robbie has gone to great lengths to ensure authenticity for his espionage thriller. This has resulted in the film offering unseen, visually intriguing locations of the great Indian outdoors.

Besides John, the film also boasts of a stellar ensemble star cast, which includes Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Sikandar Kher and Raghubir Yadav in pivotal roles.

Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW), which is produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Ajay Kapoor, Vanessa Walia, and Gary Grewal, releases on April 5.

Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; April 2, 2019)

He’s the guy who rages and roars on screen, ripping apart the wrong doers with deadly vengeance that makes you shudder and scream, but it feels real. He walks through the walls and doors, with every sinew in that 100-kilo body, throbbing with energy. And be forewarned, you can’t mess with the man in real life, too. He doesn’t mince words when he says, “It is very difficult to tell me lies and get away with it. There is nothing that will get past me.” His action avatar aside, what John really loves delving into is history and world politics, and understanding how all of that impacts human lives. In a chat with BT, the actor excitedly talks about his upcoming spy thriller, RAW (Romeo, Akbar, Walter), a story that’s inspired by true events from the 1971 Indo-Pak war, his views on social media activism and how he will always stand up and speak his mind, through his stories on celluloid. Read on...

Stories that stem from real incidents and significant episodes in history have always interested you (Madras Café, Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, and the upcoming Batla House). So, what clinched it specifically for RAW? Also, the mood of the country is different now from what it was a year ago, post the heinous Pulwama attack. Hence, films with a political backdrop need to be doubly sure that they are touching the right chord with the audience. Would you agree?
I read the script and I wanted to do it, I knew this was a fantastic story. I was fortunate that Robbie Grewal (writer-director) approached me, though he didn’t expect me to do it. The minute I heard it, I was floored and the first thing I told him was that this is not flaky stuff; the film is so well-researched. Robbie has grown up in an army background; his father was part of the military intelligence, so the subject is close to his heart. Both Robbie and I are intrinsically India lovers. The good thing is that this film is not jingoistic or overtly patriotic. It does not get into the zone of bashing other countries, it is a thriller. Just like Raazi, which was after all a human story, this one is, too. Unfortunately for us, the film is releasing post the Pulwama attacks. It has been in the making for a year. In fact, it was always meant to release between March 15 and April 12, you can find it mentioned in the industry trade magazines. We pushed the date ahead to April 5. We know that unfortunately, the film resonates with the mood of the country, but it’s not pre-planned.

RAW is inspired by true events, and set against the backdrop of the Indo-Pak war of 1971. How much have you personally researched the events that happened during that period? And while doing that, did it throw up interesting insights and give you a different perspective on the subject?
When I hear stories about wars from people in general, they mostly come from a space of ignorance, pardon me for saying this. In this case, a huge amount of research has gone into the film; I give all credit to Robbie for it. On my part, I think the fact that I am politically aware and I know what has historically happened in the world around us, helps while telling such stories. Subjects like Madras Café, Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, Batla House and RAW is the space that I dwell in. We shot this film in Kashmir, in the middle of a shootout that happened during Eid. We know and understand the mood of the region and are aware of the history of what has happened there for a long time. When you make a film on a sensitive subject, you have to be very responsible in your storytelling. You cannot fudge anything, or take creative liberties, it has to be factual. My biggest source of information was of course, Robbie and all that he had gathered from his father. Other than that, I have read numerous books on the pre-Partition and post-Partition eras. I generally read a lot on such subjects, so if you ask me about what’s happening in Syria, Ecuador, Venezuela or any other part of the world, I am well-informed. I like understanding why there is conflict, where it is coming from and what is the root of it all. You understand all this, process it, and then, when you read Twitter hashtags that tell you… say yes to this, say no to that, I feel bad. You need to have the right information before Tweeting and commenting on such serious issues.

Yes, social media commentary is common these days and it is often misleading. There is no dearth of armchair activists on social media platforms, people who have an opinion on most issues and dole out advice on various subjects. There are some who genuinely make an impact, but a huge number of them say things out of line to simply draw attention…
I would say that it is dangerous. If you are saying something that is sensitive, you rather not say it if you are not backed by the knowledge to comment on the subject. The most dangerous thing in this world is low IQ and high confidence. It can’t get worse than that.



While you might have strong views on pertinent issues and you are well-informed, one does not see you participating in debates, discussions, or commenting on burning issues (political, social or otherwise) on such forums...
I keep telling people that I am not in the business of trending on social media. I do not want to be in a space where I have to be in the news and say something exceptional that will trend. In our line of work, things have changed so much. Earlier, a producer would take you to a hoarding in Juhu and tell you, ‘Look, here is where you are’. Now, the same producer says, ‘Look, you are trending at number one and you are tracking so well’. It might make some actors happy, but I have seen film promotions that have got the fastest 100 million views online, but then, what’s happened to some of those films after they hit the theatres? I feel that a good film will always find its audience. So, my point is, just make a good film, and don’t worry how it is tracking, trending or anything else.

You have backed good films as a producer and made brave choices with movies that went on to make a mark at the box office. Do you think that made industry folks build more faith in you as an actor, too?
Yes, people take my word for it and I am very responsible with my words. If I tell a certain studio that this content is good, they take my word for it, as they trust my instinct and know that I would be saying the right thing. I think I have worked hard for that. Ever since I turned producer, I have always gone with my instinct and taken risks. We released Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran during the IPL semi-finals, it was like committing hara-kiri. I had gone through a court case with the producer (Prernaa Arora), but I saw that release through and it taught me a lot. I learnt a lot about the legal process and how things work in court. I learnt a lot about distribution and about everything else under the sun. In some of my interviews during that time, I had said that it is very difficult to tell John lies and get away with it. There is nothing that can fool me or will get past me.

You took a strong stand and fought it out in court, and others followed...
(Cuts in)… I will always take a stand, even as an actor when I am working on my movies. I am not one of those politically correct actors who is pro-India, but will not say anything that will antagonise anybody. I won’t make a political statement just to trend on social media, but I will say things as they are, as they are meant to be said and I will say it through my films.

You recently said that looking ahead, you can see your best five years coming up (as an actor and producer). The fact that the audience’s appetite for cinema is growing, actors are getting greedier for better and well written roles and that there is a plethora of options for actors to choose from, has a huge role to play in the benchmark you have set for your career goals. Right?
Yes, even going ahead, I will only develop content. I will work with the new Ayushmanns (Khurrana) of the world and new directors. I will give them opportunities, and at the end of the day, who will be the hero? The content. Nothing else will drive the film other than good content. I look at it from the audience’s perspective, as I converse a lot with my audience. Why did I become a producer in the first place? For two reasons, firstly, as an actor, I wasn’t getting the kind of films that I wanted to do. Secondly, I wasn’t getting to watch the kind of films I wanted to watch as an audience. If you see my trajectory as an actor before I turned producer and post that, there is a quantum leap. It is because I am doing films which I am convinced that I am meant to do, and I am saying this with all humility. I am a learner, I have learnt through the process. I couldn’t understand the garish performances and overacting that was considered good acting when I first came into the industry, where my subtle acting was considered underacting. People would think, ‘He is not acting’. Today, that subtle acting is considered good. The audience’s tastes have changed and we are at that inflection point, where there is need for content, new-age cinema, subtleties in performances, and everything I am here for.

Even while you are doing these content-heavy films, I assume that you would still want to be seen as Action Abraham, the kickass action hero, right? Also, today, the action in our films has gone notches higher (as far as skill, technique and style are concerned). Do you see it scaling up even further?
You could do the best action in this country, but it will not work if you don’t connect emotionally with the story. If the EQ (emotional quotient) is good and the action is average, your film will still do wonders. So, I feel that movies here still run on emotions, not on great action. Think of this…who are your biggest action heroes? Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Dwayne Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, these are the massive action heroes of Hollywood. What is common between all of them? None of them can really do action…it is their attitude that makes them such huge action heroes. When Arnold says, ‘I will be back’, it’s the way he says it that stays with you. It is the attitude that makes an action hero, not the action itself.

Given how involved you are in every aspect of filmmaking, you must have given some thought to the idea of turning director, too?
Yes, I have. I will direct someday. I get a lot of hope when I see films directed by artistes like Bradley Cooper, Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford. They are actors who are also such fine directors, they inspire me.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; March 31, 2019)

Writer-director Robbie Grewal is breathing a sigh of relief today. On Friday evening, the examining committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cleared his espionage drama, RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter). The film, featuring John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher, has been granted U/A certificate with virtually no cuts. He was asked to omit only two words (abuses), from the film, which runs into approximately 130 minutes. Robbie told BT, “I was apprehensive, as I have heard stories about the kind of cuts that filmmakers have been asked to make before their movies are granted a certificate. All of us work with our scripts in place and sometimes, cuts take away steam from the entire narrative. Thankfully, the committee didn’t find anything objectionable in RAW.”

He added, “In the film, John’s character is a spy, who operates within the enemy lines. In order to become one among them and extract information for the Indian intelligence, he says some unflattering things about our country. I was worried that someone might object to that, but they understood why John’s character says those lines. Thankfully, it was a unanimous decision to pass the film.”

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; March 31, 2019)

Irreverence is his middle name. There’s nothing stereotypical about his looks, filmography or his approach to life and work. A man who flaunts his heart on his sleeves, Jackie Shroff is every interviewer’s delight. In a conversation with BT, the actor, who will be seen in RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter), divulges the reason behind his erratic professional choices, why his son Tiger keeps him charged and what makes him sexy at 62. Excerpts...

Glancing through your 250-films-long filmography, it’s very difficult to assess what goes through your mind while selecting a project. Why are your choices so erratic?
My reasons for doing a film are very simple — your need should blend with mine. If someone approaches me saying, ‘I will get money for this film if you do it’, I do that film. There are times when I have taken up projects for the money. Sometimes, I found a role hard to decline or I found collaborators I didn’t want to say no to. Aur kuch kuch kaam toh sirf Madhuri Dixit ke liye kiya. I never put thought into my career graph. If I had done that, game hi alag hota. Until recently, I didn’t even realise that I had sailed through some 250 films in my career. When my body and bones hurt, I am reminded of everything I did. I sustained so many injuries while doing action scenes because they used to be asli fights. I’ve done three shifts a day. Haddiyan somehow bach gayi meri. Just about every film had five fights and five songs, which took a toll on actors those days.

Robbie Grewal, the writer-director of RAW, had told us that he cast you as the first chief of army intelligence because he felt that you could command attention in a room without screaming for it. What drove you to accept the role?
First and foremost, I want to apologise to the family of R N Kao saab (the first chief of RAW, who has inspired Jackie’s character), in case they feel I haven’t done justice to the role. He was a sincere worker, who tried to give India an edge on the war field. I have just tried to emulate that aspect of his life. I didn’t select the role, it came to me. Robbie baba approached me and said, ‘Aap haan bol do, main sambhal loonga’. I trusted his vision and his research, and gave the nod. Maybe, in me, he did see the thehrav that he was looking for.

Recently, memes and comical videos featuring you at a wedding surfaced on social media. Your sense of clothing and the bindaas bhidu attitude are hard to miss. Why have you never tried to blend in with the industry’s norms?
I am a simple man. I was always one and will perish as one. Of course, you can be glamorous while being simple, but you don’t need to be scandalous. People from the industry are soft targets. We are always in the public eye. Janta apne ko dekhti hai. So, while doing what one’s heart says, one has to stay within the limits. The bindasiyat you talk about is a part of my DNA. I’ve come from Teen Batti and I am a proud chaali boy, till date. I take pride in the kholi I lived in. Mujh mein chaal bhi hai aur chawl bhi. Udhar ka toh hawa bhi apne haddiyon mein hai. Even at 62 today, it’s what makes me who I am. And I don’t know another way to be.

But you have ensured that your son Tiger (Shroff) meets all industry norms...
It’s all his doing. Ayesha (wife) and my mother raised him well. He remembers everything his granny taught him. Today, I feel proud to walk into a room and be called Tiger ka baap. He keeps my batteries charged and going. My boy has given me a lot.

He’s finally in a relationship. As a parent, how do you deal with that aspect of his life?
I don’t deal with it. Main khaali dheel de deta hoon. Tiger has spent 25 years of his life without a girlfriend. Abhi ek hai to usko rehne do na… he’s found a girlfriend and I am very happy about it. Lekin usko ek tichki diya hai maine. He understands the meaning of life, and how it’s led within a social framework. He knows that he can never cross that line of decency and he never does.

He recently did a body-baring photo shoot for a celebrity calendar. It reminded people of your photo shoot in an underwear, done sometime in the 80s...
Yeah! It was for some magazine which ran it on the cover. Do you know that I borrowed that underwear from Ayesha? She was my girlfriend then. I was a gareeb from Teen Batti, I didn’t have the swimming trunks I was required to wear for the shoot. So, Ayesha gave me a part of her two-piece bikini, and it fit me well. I am not ashamed of it, I never was. People talk about feminism and choices, and the shift in the man woman equation today. I wore a woman’s bikini for my shoot back in the 1980s. I am proud of it.

Lastly, apart from RAW, you’re also collaborating with Salman Khan in Bharat and Sanjay Dutt in Prasthaanam...
Yeah, and I am enjoying it. It’s been a while since I worked with both of them. This is my first film with Sanju after Kartoos (1999). He’s not changed as a person, he’s still funny and cracks jokes. The thing is, we can’t change. Yeh sab apni haddi mein hota hai. 

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; March 29, 2019)

Any regular cinegoer, who has seen the last two films helmed by Robbie Grewal, will find it hard to associate him with a movie that looks as intense as RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter). A successful ad filmmaker, he forayed into feature films with a thriller titled Samay: When Time Strikes (2003). He followed it up with MP3 (2007) and Aloo Chat (2009). It’s taken Robbie almost a decade since then to make his dream film — one that narrates the human side of army intelligence, set against the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The filmmaker has his father, a retired Army officer, to thank for introducing him to the idea. Here are excerpts from his interview with BT...

You stayed away from making feature films for almost a decade. As a filmmaker, how was that experience?
I would have had an answer had I been waiting in the wings. But I wasn’t, because I have an ad film production house and my bread and butter was taken care of with that. Besides, I didn’t find a story that compelled me to wield the megaphone again after Aloo Chaat.

I waited to hear a voice from within. Seven years ago, when my father told me about espionage, the 1971 war and what had really happened, I started reading up on it. The more I delved into it, the more it forced me to craft a story revolving around the human side of army intelligence. That world is truly fascinating.

Your army background (his father was in the Indian Army) perhaps acted as a trigger for you to work on this story…
In a way, it did. Patriotism is in my blood and when my father introduced me to what happened in 1971, considered to be a glorious year for our army intelligence, I was easily drawn to it. Though films have been made on the Indo-Pak war, not enough has been spoken about those faceless, nameless people who provided India its greatest tool in the battlefield. I’ve always wondered, what does a spy get in lieu of what he/she does for the nation? A soldier gets martyrdom; we get praise and monetary benefits when we do well. But what do they get? Nothing! Not even a mention in history for doing the most reward-worthy acts. I wanted to get into the psyche of people who do that. That triggered my desire to make RAW.

A decade-long wait to make a feature film, though you have a parallel business that keeps you going, can still be very daunting, isn’t it?
Not really. On the contrary, it can sometimes be very rewarding. It was therapeutic to invest years of my life writing this film. I could research and write it to the best of my ability without being pressed for time. I was enjoying it. If I didn’t have my safety net, then, maybe, I would have had to worry. In hindsight, if I had come out with this film two years ago, I don’t think it would have made me as content as it has made me today.

Before John Abraham came on board, you were ready to roll the film with Sushant Singh Rajput. What are your thoughts on that today?
It’s a mood film. We had to shoot it at a certain time in the year at a certain place. Sushant’s dates, as clichéd as it may sound, didn’t work out. But I am so happy that it didn’t work out with him. I thank God that John walked into the project at the right juncture. RAW came into both our careers when we were ready for a challenge. By far, John is the most intelligent actor I have worked with. He works meticulously to understand the person he’s playing on screen. Also, we think alike in a lot of ways. He’s honest and I don’t like falsifying either. He came without baggage. Whether we shot at an abattoir, a crowded market or a closed-door set, he was at ease. And he doesn’t come with a barrage of people in his team; he doesn’t even have a bodyguard. Actors usually sulk if they have to put in extra hours, he doesn’t. So, I’ve begun to believe ki bhagwan jo karta hai, bhale ke liye karta hai.

How did John react to the fact that he wasn’t the first choice to play the part?
John knew it all along, but he’s never reacted to it. In fact, right from the time we first met, he has only reacted to the script and to how we plan to execute it. Today, every actor is hungry for great content. It doesn’t matter to most of them if someone else was offered the role before. Of course, there are people who live in an ivory tower and think differently. Thankfully, John is not one of those. Once he agreed to come on board, I didn’t ever feel the need to rake up the past with him.

Your film talks about intelligence officials of the 1970s. But times have changed since then. Today, we rely a lot more on technology. In that context, what would be your take on the divided opinions that people have on India’s attack on Balakot, shortly after the Pulwama terror attack?
It’s unfortunate that our opinions are divided on something like that. There’s no need for any of us to question the armed forces, their intelligence devices or their intent. The armed forces are straightforward and undivided as a community. Despite being a Jat Sikh, my father was in the Gurkha regiment, which he’s very proud of. We all take pride in it. It’s not fair to question what our armed forces did in retaliation. Let’s just respect them.

Given the issues around national security and the simmering tension between India and Pakistan, the timing of your film’s release is being talked about ...
My film would have held its own, even without the current circumstances in the country. Honestly, I wish things wouldn’t have been the way they are. I wish we weren’t topical, for a change. I wish the Pulwama attack hadn’t happened, just for my film to start sounding relevant to people at large.

Given that the film is being considered well-timed, people will watch it with a keener eye. Does that unnerve you?
John and Sushant had both reacted to the narration in a similar manner, which means that the film has something that will strike a chord with the audience. The fact that people will now see it more keenly doesn’t unnerve me. On the contrary, it’s a blessing. Intelligence, as an outfit, is not something I need to educate people about. People know and so, they and I can invest ourselves fully into the human story that the film has to offer. This is the kind of wait I enjoy, when I’m eager for the reactions and people are eager for the film.

John Abraham is keen on surprising the audience and having them look at him anew with his next, RAW, based on the 1971 Indo-Pak war
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; March 17, 2019)

It's all about making the right choices for John Abraham now. Bolstered by the success of his last outings, Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran and Satyamev Jayate, which released last year, he now wants to surprise the audience.

"OMG, John can do this," is what he would like them to say. His upcoming film, Robbie Grewal's RAW - Romeo Akbar Walter, is one more way of making the audience sit up and notice him. He is currently shooting for Anees Bazmee's Pagalpanti in England. Abraham recently jetted into Mumbai for a day to launch the trailer of RAW. We caught up with him at a Juhu hotel. He's honest and forthright. Bollywood's beefcake wants to prove that there is more to him than just brawn.

The recent happenings along the Indo-Pak border has yet again brought to the fore the strained relations between the two countries. RAW is based in the backdrop of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. "The timing is coincidental. We had always planned to release the film on April 5. It is so easy to drop words but that has never been our intent. We would never want to cash in on it."

As an actor, Abraham likes being a part of all types of cinema, but as producer he prefers subjects that are factual. "Fact is stranger than fiction," he says. "This does not mean that I will only stick to subjects about war and patriotism. After RAW, my next outing will be Nikkhil Advani's Batla House [based on the 2008 Delhi encounter against terrorists]. It is the most contentious topic after the Babri Masjid issue. What I like is telling real stories."

RAW was originally announced with Sushant Singh Rajput. Abraham has no qualms replacing him. "I would not mind being the fourth option. I am fortunate that it came to me. I am secure about what to do; you have to make the choice. I am glad these kind of films have been coming to me. I am lapping it up. If you see my slate, each tells a different story."

Abraham plays a RAW officer in the film, which was shot in Kashmir and Gujarat. "Robbie's [the director] father was in the army so his research is all first-hand. I am well informed and politically aware. If you ask me what is happening in Syria, I can tell you the entire history. So when you come from that space, you ask a lot of questions. Robbie had all the answers and I was on board the project."

Gone are the days when Abraham had to face the 'can he act' question. "I always took it with a pinch of salt. As an actor, I had to depend on what was offered to me. But as soon as I turned producer with Vicky Donor [2012] and Madras Cafe [2013], I could choose the content and provide something novel each time."

At the same time he does not mind being part of comic capers like Pagalpanti. "I love doing comedy. I adore Anees Bazmee. This is also a way to for the audience to know that I can do this and that."

Abraham is among those few actors who does not subscribe to the camp culture in Bollywood. "I like being on shaky grounds. If I work with the top names, my failure would be zilch. I want to take risks. I agreed to be part of Milap Zaveri's Satyameva Jayate even though he may have been known for a film like Mastizaade [2016]. I went with my conviction. I knew he was making a hardcore Bollywood action masala and it worked. I don't influence the casting. I sit on scripts and give my inputs. It is ultimately the director's call on whom he or she wants in the project."

If Abraham had his way there are two films of his, which he would love to make a sequel to - Rocky Handsome [2016] and No Smoking [2007]. "I am sure their directors themselves would not even want to touch it. But these two are my favourites," says Abraham who also loves to talk about his half-Parsi roots from his mum's side. "That part is alive and kicking and how. I am a pescetarian, so saas ni macchi and patra ni macchi I can devour. I love going to Jimmy Boy in Fort, they specially make it for me."

'She's a private person'
John Abraham fiercely guards his personal life. He tied the knot with NRI financial analyst, Priya Runchal, in 2014 but is rarely seen with her in public. Being papped is definitely not in his scheme of things. "This is the way I like it. She is a private person. She finished her course from business school in London and was earlier in Los Angeles. She chooses to quietly do her work and I appreciate it. She also handles my football team, North East United FC, which is based in Guwahati. Managing the team is like handling two big productions. We spot talent, nurture them and then a billionaire comes and buys them for his franchise. So, then I lose them, and have to find new talent again. We do the hard work of identifying them only to see them go, but I enjoy the process."

'Allan is low-key too'
The actor's architect-interior designer brother Allan Abraham is helping the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in developing areas around Mount Mary, Bandra. "He too prefers to be low-profiled. It runs in the family. He has designed my office as well as Tiger Shroff's gym and Suniel Shetty's villa resort. If he sees his photo in the papers, he will be devastated and won't come to office for two days. He has outlined a plan for Juhu and Haji Ali. He is hoping authorities that matter give him a hearing."

Director Robbie Grewal’s inspiration for his espionage-thriller was the world of his father, who has worked for military intelligence, and the stories he told
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 25, 2019)

While his espionage thriller Romeo Akbar Walter gears up for release, director Robbie Grewal takes us back to 2012 and a conversation with his father, Major M S Grewal (9 Gurkha Regiment 1/9 Gurkha Rifles) who also served in the Military Intelligence. They discussed Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and why not many films have been made on the Intelligence agency and its valiant officers. It inspired Robbie to research the subject and seven years on, it resulted in his fourth directorial, which follows the journey of a spy, played by John Abraham, in the era of the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

“The more I spoke to dad the more I was intrigued by his world and its unsung heroes who have served the country, often leading a faceless existence. RAW and its inputs contributed significantly to us winning the 1971 war. Ours is a fictional story revolving around true events,” Robbie says.

The film focuses on ‘human intelligence’, which was the mainstay before the information technology boom. “Machines are doing a lot of the work today, but earlier, sources had to be cultivated to get information and how it travelled from one place to the next made for a fascinating journey,” reveals Robbie, adding that his research began with his father enlightening him on Intelligence, how agents were spotted, brought on board and sent on secret missions.

The internet was also a mine of information as were TV shows like The Bureau, Duetschland 83 and The Americans and films like The Ipcress Files and Munich. Robbie also read books like Gordon Thomas’s Gideon’s Spies and Victor Ostrovsky’s By Way of Deception and learnt from those associated with RAW. “I can’t reveal their names or the exact information they shared but it helped me in my prep. One thing I can reveal is that back then, RAW used the media to circulate factual information which helped them in their missions,” the director says.

On John’s prep, he says it was important for him to understand the psyche of the character, followed by physical transformation. “I’ve worked with many actors as an ad filmmaker, but John is the most intelligent. Over several discussions and cups of coffee, he understood the pulse of his three screen avatars, Romeo, Akbar and Walter, and played them to perfection,” he raves.

Sushant Singh Rajput was to play the lead earlier but dropped out of the project. Robbie says, “We were not getting the dates we wanted and I had a certain look and texture in mind that needed to be shot in a certain time frame. Since it didn’t work out, we parted ways amicably.”