Covering Bollywood and the Hindi Cinema

John Abraham is quite kicked (no pun intended) about his upcoming release Goal. Here is a recent interview of the actor:

You come across as a very sporty person, so was it high time you did a film based on sports?

I was really waiting for a sports film to come my way. And when it did I wanted it to come out right. Though I haven’t seen the final cut as yet -- the background score is still being mixed -- I think Goal has turned out really well.

But don’t you think sports films are very predictable? The underdog has to win in the end.

Of course it's like any other sports film, standard stuff. But the way the plot flows on screen is what makes this genre exciting. At the same time Goal has lots of fun, romance, emotions. It's an all in one masala film.
The promos show you challenging Boman Irani and his team to snatch the ball from you. So what kind of a character do you play?

I play Sunny, an extremely arrogant Indian footballer playing for an all white team. My only dream is to play for the English Premier League but during the selections I get left out due to my skin colour. I get this offer to join an underdog Asian team called Southall United but being so full of myself I don't respect them. Soon as I start playing against them, I realise how good they actually are and just need the right opportunity to break into the big league. Basically they cut me down to size.

In the last few months everything about you has been under the scanner. Be it your performances, relationships, equation with other co-stars; how do you handle so much negative publicity.

The fact that so much is being written about me means somewhere I am 'happening'. I am not saying I am the greatest star in the world, but if there is so much interest in my life, I must be doing something right. Personally I have learnt to accept everything with grace. You call me an idiot, I’ll say thank you very much, and carry on doing my own work. I won't come in anyone's way, as there is enough scope in this world for everyone to succeed. I guess this is something sports has taught me.

But what about reports suggesting a rift between you and Arshad?

We definitely had a lot of creative differences, but all for the benefit of the film. I think when two thinking people meet they are bound have a contrasting outlook. Off the sets, we still laugh at these rumours and are quite amused at how people think.

But is he a better footballer or journalist?

He's definitely a better journalist. Any day man.

Do you think people will accept you and Bipasha in a non-romantic film? Are you doing any more films after this?

This film has a bit of sweet romance that people should like. But very rarely do we like the same script so it has to be something special.

How does Bipasha handle all the controversies? Has she become as graceful as you?

She's getting there but she is still a little more blunt than me.