Actor John Abraham, who started out as a model before venturing into the Hindi film industry in 2003 with Jism and now even produces movies, says his struggles in showbiz have become harder with time as he has become tougher on himself.
Every newcomer, especially those with no backing of a film family, faces hardships in the competitive industry. Was it the same for John when he forayed into filmdom?
“I still face struggle. Even today, after Dishoom, I struggle, but the struggle is of different kind. The struggles are getting harder today because I am getting tougher on myself. The struggle is about being fitter, stronger and faster,” John told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
“The struggle is about finding better scripts ... It’s about reducing the probability of failure, so the struggle is of a different kind. I really did not find that (entry into filmdom) much of a struggle,” added the 43-year-old, who, however, found being the best in the modelling industry a tough nut to crack.
“I had to prove that I can sustain in the modelling industry,” said the star, who is gearing up for his next release Force 2.
Once that struggle finished, he went on to act in movies like New York, Kabul Express, Zinda, Taxi No. 9211 and Garam Masala, after which he became a producer with the National Award winning entertainer Vicky Donor.
Then, he says his struggle shifted to how to up the “quotient of quality of films” that he was doing. “The struggles keep going on in my life ... The struggles are never going to end. I am always going to be a struggler,” said the actor.
What has been tougher — being a model, actor or producer?
“I think being a model was the easiest thing to do,” he said and added: “As a model, I was ‘John Abraham, the model’. I was a clothes hanger. You give me any clothes, my job was to make it look good.”
For him, being an “actor is tough, but fun”, and being a producer is the “most difficult”. “As an actor, I’m open to working with different producers. Someone I deeply respect and love is Aditya Chopra. Someone who is my really close friend and I really like working as a producer with is Karan Johar,” added John, who finds it “daunting” to find scripts to produce under his banner John Abraham Entertainment.
“I think people like hard-core quality content-driven films, and I feel it is my production house that looks out for the best. I think it’s very daunting to find the next best script that will entertain the audience,” he added. In his over-a-decade long career in Bollywood, the actor’s filmography boasts of adrenaline rushing actioners, power-packed dramas and rib-tickling comedies.
Is there any other genre John would like to explore?
“I think the genre that I would like to attempt and re-attempt is in the space of No Smoking. I love that space. A lot of people tell me that ‘if you do No Smoking today it would do fantastic business and I tell them that whether I do something 10 years too early or five years too early, that’s the space I would like to re-explore.” — IANS

Priyanka Chopra to be on Heidi’s Project Runway
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra’s international portfolio seems to be turning stronger by the day. After TV show Quantico and Hollywood film Baywatch, she is set to be seen as a guest judge for season 15 of American TV series Project Runway, hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum.
Priyanka will join the series as one of the few guest judges on the show, which will air from September. The show focuses on budding designers who are given an opportunity to create a collection for New York Fashion Week. Priyanka took to Instagram, where she shared a photograph of herself along with Klum as well as the show’s other judges Nina Garcia, Zac Posen and Georgina Chapman.
“Namaste!! On Project Runway. Coming soon. Project Runway Season 15, September 15th! Nina Garcia, Zac Posen, Heidi Klum, Georgina Chapman,” Priyanka captioned the image.
The former Miss World made inroads into foreign showbiz first when she launched her international single In my city, a track she collaborated for with Will.i.am. That set the stage for her to do bigger things in the West.
For Quantico, which stars her in the lead role as FBI agent Alex Parish, she won the Favourite Actress in a New TV series award at the People’s Choice Awards 2016 earlier this year. That also opened the doors to Hollywood for Priyanka, who landed a negative role in Baywatch — the big screen version of the globally popular TV series — starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. – IANS

I know people call me a false
modest person, says Bachchan

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan feels there are a lot of people who find him falsely modest, but he makes no bones about it saying that even though there are new faces in his upcoming film Pink, they will catch the audience’s attention with their “exceptional” work.
“As an actor, I have been in this line for 45 years. Most of them (actors in Pink) are new faces in this film and you have not seen them before. But once you see the film, you will not see me you will only see them,” the 73-year-old said at the film’s trailer launch.
“It’s exceptional work that they have done, and I say this from the bottom of my heart. I am not being modest. I know a lot of people call me a false modest person, but this is the honest truth,” he said. The movie, directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary, also features Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang in key roles.
“I have never worked with such an exceptional actors. They are so committed. You cannot believe the kind of performance they have given. They are so natural and it’s an inspiration for me,” he added.
Pink is a film set in Delhi, and stars Amitabh as a lawyer. The trailer suggests it is an unconventional thriller.
How does producer Shoojit Sircar plan to promote it? “I feel after watching the trailer, people decide whether to watch the film or not. I have done this many a times. This film doesn’t have song and dance or an item number to promote.
“All my films are purely content and character driven. There are songs... and we are introducing a singer from Pakistan. So you all will get to hear her.” — IANS