Fashion Icon John Abraham knows the balance between being sexy and edgy as he talks about Race 2 to a popular news daily. John has practiced like never before for this movie breaking a few bones and even cried out of pain while training. Race 2 is the upcoming action flick that is highly awaited featuring Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez, Anil Kapoor and Ameesha Patel.
He learned MMA, mixed martial arts, for two months from two Vietnamese coaches, Son and Tun. All he remembers is excruciating pain, shouting dao (Vietnamese for pain) more often than a child. Practicing with stunt director Peter Haines, he made the stunts and fights look more realistic than ever. Though situations were not in his way, he never gave up, John says.
The driving force was his burning desire to make a mark in Bollywood with raw action. Fighting with a 300-pound South African, he felt like he had to win or die in the ring. Injuries were excruciating then and then memories later. He visited the doctor so often that the doctor recommended him to be an in-patient. His major influence was Sylvester Stallone who defied age with his action flicks, Expendables series recently.
Commenting on going from a sexy hero to an action star, he said, “I want to draw a balance between my sex appeal and the rawness of the stunts I perform. I like being edgy. Normal is boring. It's all about attitude; you either have it or you don't. I play an anti-hero in Race 2. Bad has never looked so good.”
(AW- Anil)
