The Force is still with John Abraham

Bollywood hunk John Abraham has been using his impressive physique and ability to generate power on the big screen in blockbuster thrillers, including his newly released film Force 2.

The muscle-bound star has ramped up the action in the flashy looking sequel and taken it to a global level with the story of a fearless officer taking on an international terror threat.

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“Force 2 is an amalgamation of intelligence and action. The problems in Force were restrained and private, whereas the ones in the sequel are far bigger and pose grave threats to the country. The adversary in the sequel is comparatively much more dangerous and so is the movie,” explains John.

The actor, who is also a co-producer on the action-packed thriller, has put his all into the movie. That is why he was passionate when speaking about Force 2 on the promotional trail leading up to its global release.

The main thing that attracted John to reprising his role of the fearless cop from Force was the story of an unknown terrorist threatening India, he says.

“Force 2 has a fantastic storyline, which is dedicated to the heroes who lost their lives defending the country. The story of the movie has a lot of credibility as it has been inspired by true events,” John explains.

“I am playing the role of ACP Yashvardhan who has astonishing and real physical powers like a superhero. My character stands for being honest and having strong moral principles, which people should have in today’s time.”

The film has been shot in Mumbai and Hungary with a global audience in mind, and the eye-catching trailers received a positive response. John feels Force 2 is a complete package because it has national appeal as well as an international look. A favourite aspect for the fearless star were the turbo-charged stunts and brutal fight scenes.

“I like doing action sequences. I prefer doing all my stunts by myself. I enjoy doing stunts myself in all my movies,” he says.

Not surprisingly John sustained a number of injuries during the shooting, but powered through them to complete the film. He does admit that it got difficult at times because he had a couple of knee operations during shooting.

“Force stands for the power element. The movie is an action one so the role has to be physically strong. Yes, I did sustain a knee injury during the movie’s shoot. While doing the roof-top action sequence my knee got damaged. During the shoot in Hungary I had undergone two knee surgeries and one more when I returned to Mumbai. I still remember while sitting in the car (co-producer) Vipul (Shah) used to lift my leg and put it in the car as I wasn’t even able to move.”

In Force, the villain was very muscular, but in the sequel, the antagonist is more brain than brawn, something that John believes added a lot more to the film. He was full of praise for actor Tahir Raj Bhasin, who was last seen as the villain in Mardaani and now plays the antagonist in Force 2.

“The problems in Force 2 are larger. We wanted a character that is far more evolved than the antagonist in Force. I think Tahir’s character checked all the boxes for that.

“This antagonist is far more evolved. I always say that strength is in the mind and not physically. Tahir has got that strength of character. He is fantastic and when I actually saw him in the film, I got goosebumps with some of his scenes. His character has so many shades and so many layers, so I think he adds so much value to this film.”

Force 2 sees John starring opposite Sonakshi Sinha, who plays a RAW [Indian intelligence] officer and also gets involved in the action sequences. He was full of praise for his leading lady and especially her dedication to the role.

“It is a director’s prerogative that he wants to give an opportunity to his female actors to do this kind of action. We love watching them dancing and singing. So for a change, when someone like me sees women doing action, it impresses me a lot. When I was told on the second day of the shoot that there was a shot where we both had to jump after a blast, I was worried. How would I tell Sonakshi to jump? Finally, she jumped and after that, I realised this girl will do anything.

“Sonakshi didn’t say no to a single action scene. She was absolutely fantastic and comfortable. And seeing her, I feel there should be more action sequences for women in films.”

Although it may appear like John is concentrating just on action, he wants to carry on mixing up the genres and says he is always on the look out for something new.

“I don’t want to do just action. I love action a lot, it is like second nature to me. I enjoy it. But I also like comedy. I especially love slapstick comedy. I love all kinds of films and watch all kinds.”

For now John is focusing on his latest action movie and finishes off by explaining why audiences should watch Force 2.

“Force 2 has become an important movie for India. It will be a remarkable experience for the viewers. We keep pushing the film and saying it’s a great movie, which is unfair – the audience must watch and decide and we respect their decision.”

Force 2 is in cinemas now.