“I am politically aware.” It is rare to hear such a statement from a Bollywood actor, particularly from one who all through his career has been trying to get over his beefcake image. John Abraham is almost there. It is no longer about No Smoking , Force, Madras Cafe or Rocky Handsome . His films have pure Hindi names now. The latest is called Parmanu , the next one is called Satyamev Jayate . There was a time when he experimented with names like Anurag Kashyap, Nagesh Kukunoor and Shoojit Sircar. Now he wants to reach out to masses with Abhishek Sharma and Milap Zaveri. No fault of his, in film industry, brackets don’t break easily. “There is a complete turnaround,” he nods. After having produced the path breaking Vicky Donor and the credible Madras Cafe, John has put together Parmanu , a thriller that promises to unravel the events that led up to Pokhran II in May, 1998. “I wanted to make a film on events that impacted me personally. I remember watching Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s speech on television where he said, ‘andhera chhatega, kamal khilega.’ I remember how sanctions were imposed on us and the FDI fell after the nuclear tests. I realise that today we are a superpower because what we did on May 11, 1998. At that point of time there was no USSR, Pakistan was the biggest ally of the US and China was not too happy with us. We had to stand for ourselves.” Also, he adds, conducting a nuclear test is not just about having a nuclear bomb. “It is about self sustenance. It is about generating electricity. That’s why I wanted to make a film on an event that defined my life.”
The film is coming at a time when Bollywood is riding a patriotic wave and some are busy promoting government schemes through cinema. With the Lok Sabha polls just a year away, Parmanu could well be seen as an arsenal created for the party in power. Relaxing in a Delhi hotel after leading the Paramanu Pride Parade in Connaught Place on a hot day, John says, “When I say I am politically aware, it doesn’t mean I lean towards a political party. I made Madras Cafe because one day, when I was a youngster, I woke up to see tears in my mother’s eyes. The newspapers had a photo where there was a cap, a pair of Lotto shoes and mangled mess. Those were the remains of our former Prime Minister. But when I made Madras Cafe people thought that I have made it for the Congress. Now when I am releasing Parmanu, some feel, I am making it for the BJP. I haven’t made it for any party; I have made it for the audience. Let’s imagine there is a young audience that doesn’t care about the Pokhran Test. They should go and enjoy it as a thriller,” he underlines the genre. “And when they come out, they should feel proud to be Indian.”
Different treatment
In terms of genre, it seems like an extension of Madras Cafe but John clarifies that the treatment is different. “One thing that I learnt from Madras Cafe was that it was very dense in terms of information. It was a very intelligent film but it reached out to a very niche audience. With Parmanu , I want to reach out to the lowest common denominator.”
A scene from Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran
Having said that, he adds, it was not that easy an idea to sell. “After all my villain in the film is an American satellite. How do you convince your local distributor with this piece of information?” He ensures that the team hasn’t compromised on the facts. “It is 85% percent true. We met members of the core team which was responsible for conducting the nuclear test. I can’t take names but we met some people from the BJP government who were present at that point of time. We narrated the script to all the departments involved. We got corrected at many places. We had a senior officer, who was second in charge during Operation Shakti, as a consultant on the sets. From how to wear the uniform to how things looked, he kept an eye on everything.” But then there were aspects which could not be revealed. John shares a funny incident. “When we asked about exact size of the bomb, we were told, ‘your interview is over, now you can leave.’ Somewhere you have to get your head down and respect certain things.”
As for the principal characters, John says, “You will find (Dr. APJ) Kalam sahib, (Dr. Anil) Kakodkar and (Dr. R.) Chidambaram in the narrative. Boman Irani is playing a character based on Brajesh Mishra (the Principal Secretary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and National Security Advisor at the time of Pokhran II). But their names have been changed and no effort has been made to make the actors look like the real people. This was done because we didn’t want to get into legal issues. However, their presence highlights how officers from different departments of the government came together for a common cause”
The fictional element, John says, comes through his character. “I am playing a junior officer in the Prime Minister’s Office. See, we needed somebody through whom we could tell the story.” But it seems that the real storyteller, Abhishek Sharma, has no experience in this genre. He is best known for Tere Bin Laden . “The idea came from him. He is like an encyclopaedia on the politics of this country. He knew everything about the events. Plus, he is an NSD graduate and took us through the workshop process. And all said and done, Tere Bin Laden is a political satire.”
After experimenting without much success, it seems John has occupied the action space. He admits that one of the reasons that he turned to production was that action films were not written well in the country. “That’s why it becomes very difficult to critique action as well. It is much more than just maar-dhaad. If you see, world over, the biggest stars are action heroes. We need to straddle this genre very carefully and that’s why I am creating my own franchise where I can give some credibility to action.” He is in two minds – whether he should continue with Force or create his own action franchise which he would solely produce. “I don’t necessarily need to put in song-dance or show bare bodies. My simple point is every action has to be backed by emotion. And the choreography needs to be smart.”
We lampoon Indian stuff but we continue to buy action franchises from Hollywood. Emphasising the value of Indian emotions, John says, on a good day, Sunny Deol can still hit the ball out of the park. “He is a man’s man. But you have to ensure that you don’t dumb it down too much. Don’t buffer it with five songs. The problem is we have started making proposals and stopped making films. It is all about positioning your film in the market and talking about it.” Who knows it better than the face of No Smoking ! “It is one of my favourite films but today I can’t do a No Smoking . If I do it, I will have to make is palatable for the audience. People make sequels of hit films, I will attempt of a flop one.” An idea worth putting into action!
