John Abraham wants to direct films

MUMBAI: Having worked in more than 30 films over the past seven years, John Abraham says people have become more accepting of his style of acting. He also intends on directing his first film soon.

“I have good friends around me who are directors and writers. They are all willing to sit with me, help me and formulate screenplays. I have ideas and I want to become a director very soon and when I become one, I will be damn good at it,” Abraham said.

“Probably, five to eight years down the line, I’ll direct a film. I’ve only been in the industry for seven years. I want to first settle down properly and prove myself in a big way and then I will get into direction,” added the actor who will turn 38 next month.

Abraham has done films of different genres – from Deepa Mehta’s gritty Water to comedies like Garam Masala and Dostana and the issue-based New York.

Explaining his evolution as an actor, he said, “After all these years, I think I’ve become very comfortable with the medium, but more than myself I’ve seen a change in the perception of the audience towards me.

“I’ve always been an understated actor. I’m not into over-projection. When I joined the industry, there was a section of the audience that felt I was too understated. Today the same audience has a different perception and somehow that same style of acting is working for them now.

“I haven’t changed. I’m following my director’s brief and I’m doing exactly that. But peoples’ perception have changed. The sense of reality has prevailed in the mind of the audience and I think that’s the change I have seen.”

His last release Jhootha Hi Sahi failed at the box office, but the Bollywood hunk has not given up. He is all set to play the boy-next-door in a new film.

“I’ll be starting the film in March, which will be directed by Kapil Sharma, a first time director. He is the best chief assistant director we have in the country,” said Abraham.

“The film is about a regular guy who gets busted by all the women in his life. It’s about a guy who learns life through the women he is with – his mother, sister, his boss, his neighbour, his girlfriend, his ex-girlfriend. It’s just about this journey. It’s amazing.”

The final title of the film is yet to be decided. “Right now it’s calledThe Re-education of Ishaan Sabharwal. That’s a working title,” he said.

Abraham is currently busy with director Nishikant Kamat and producer Vipul Shah’s Hindi remake of the Tamil blockbusterKaakha Kaakha. The action movie also stars Genelia D’Souza.

But another film with his girlfriend, actor Bipasha Basu doesn’t seem on the cards. They debuted together with Jism in 2003 and were last seen together in the 2007 film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.

“I don’t know. It depends on whether we are offered a good script. Till then we are okay not working together. There is no public display of affection in our case. We are pretty much in our own worlds,” said the actor.