Wednesday,
November
28,
2007
John
Abraham
spoke
candidly
about
his
relationship
with
Bollywood's
Bipasha
Basu,
his
latest
film
Goal
and
what
makes
him
so
difficult
to
live
with.
Speaking
on
BBC
Asian
Network's
Love
Bollywood
show
about
his
latest
film
Dhan
Dhana
Dhan
Goal,
a
story
about
a
Punjabi
footballer
based
in
Southall
John
said,
"[It
is]
probably
that
representation
of
a
UK
Asian
who
probably
has
gone
through
trouble
in
his
life
to
be
accepted
in
what
he's
done,
be
it
playing
for
an
all
white
football
team
or
just
being
accepted
by
his
parents
...and
I
believe
that
if
anyone
has
to
see
this
film
it
has
to
be
a
the
UK
Asian,
and
more
so."
However
the
filming
of
Goal
was
marred
by
some
racist
experiences
for
John's
girlfriend
Bipasha
and
his
Goal
co-star
Arshad
Warsi.
"When
you're
coming
to
London
and
you're
shooting
that's
the
last
thing
you
expect...
You
can't
generalize
and
you
can't
say
everyone
is
racist,
definitely,
because
we
met
some
wonderful
people
in
UK.
We
were
shooting
a
scene
outside
and
a
car
stopped
by
these
two
guys
started
rapping
expletives.
Taking
about
brown
skin
and
black
skin
and
they
just
zoomed
off.
Bipasha
and
Arshad
were
stunned.
Bipasha
said,
"John
it's
2007
and
these
things
shouldn't
be
happening."
However
his
advice
to
young
Asians
in
the
UK
remained
calm,
"The
only
way
to
excel
is
not
through
rebellion,
it's
not
through
extremism.
It
is
through
education...And
it's
a
long
process,
it's
a
painful
process,
there's
a
bleeding
process...
well...
but
someone
has
to
do
it."
Whilst
John
has
been
likened
to
Antonio
Banderas,
he
and
Bipasha
Basu
have
been
described
as
?The
Golden
Couple
of
Bollywood'.
But
the
relationship
has
had
its
very
public
ups
and
downs,
most
notably
when
Bipasha
was
photographed
?kissing' football
star
Cristiano
Ronaldo.
He
said
of
that
episode,
"I'm
not
going
to
stand
up
and
justify
for
her
because
we're
in
a
relationship
and
it's
about
trust.
We
trust
each
other
and
that's
why
we
are
still
together
and
we're
pretty
happy
together.
We
have
our
fights
we're
both
strong
minded
people
if
she
says
the
sky
is
grey
and
I
say
its
blue
it's
always
going
to
remain
blue
for
me
and
grey
for
her.
It's
NEVER
going
to
change
in
our
lifetimes...
sometimes
probably
that
rebellion
that
we
share,
or
that
strong
head
that
we
have
could
work
against
us
at
times."
"Obviously
I
support
Bipasha...
I'll
be
honest
and
tell
you
Cristiano
Ronaldo
is
a
great
guy,
Bipasha
speaks
very
highly
of
him."
John
said
that
the
distress
that
was
caused
at
the
time
along
with
both
his
parents
being
critically
ill
only
added
to
his
method
acting
and
helped
him
to
feel
depressed
and
recluse.
John
admits
that
his
?extremist'
approach
to
method
acting
adds
extra
pressure
to
the
relationship.
He
recently
lost
27
lbs
for
a
film
role.
"That's
what
Bipasha's
told
me,
even
my
parents
tell
me,
especially
my
mom
-
"do
you
really
need
to
get
into
the
role
so
much?
Because
we're
afraid
that
you'll
kill
yourself."
Acclaimed
film
director
Mahesh
Bhatt
also
said
of
him,
"John
you're
clinically
on
the
edge
because
if
you're
really
pushing
yourself
to
get
into
these
roles
you'll
probably
get
hurt."
"I
am
a
very
difficult
co-star
to
work
with
because
I'm
an
extremist
at
work
and
if
I
get
into
a
role
I
take
it
back
home
with
me
and
she
(Bipasha)
can't
handle
it
so
I
don't
know
how
sometimes
our
relationship
lasted
so
long."
In
reference
to
his
last
film
No
Smoking
which
received
a
standing
ovation
at
the
Rome
film
festival
but
was
slated
by
critics
in
India,
"Critics
panned
the
movie.
I
don't
blame
them...
the
producer
positioned
the
film
wrongly
it
was
always
meant
to
be
an
art
film,
a
festival
film
-
it
was
the
item
number
which
should
not
have
been
there
in
the
first
place...it
was
the
commercial
outlook
to
the
film
which
the
producer
should
not
have
positioned
it
as."
"For
No
Smoking
-
I
said
"if
I
was
the
audience
would
I
watch
this?" and
I
said,
"no,
I
wouldn't
watch
this'
...I
made
it
very
clear
to
my
producers
that
this
has
to
be
a
festival
film.
But
what
happens
that
after
a
point
commercial
sets
in...And
they
go
and
sell
it
for
a
huge
commercial
sum
under
the
name
of
John
Abraham
and
it
fails
...But
I
stand
by
the
film
I
think
it's
a
great
film."
John
is
currently
working
on
two
films,
an
English
language
film
LUNA
starring
Rachel
Weisz
and
Dustin
Hoffman
where
Abraham
plays
an
environmental
activist,
and
EXCLUSION
the
largest
Hindi
film
to
come
out
of
India
-
also
starring
Amitabh
Bachchan.
The
story
is
set
during
East
India
Company
rule
where
a
group
of
Sikhs
sailed
to
the
shores
on
British
Columbia,
only
to
face
fatal
attack.
John
says
of
the
film,
"It's
the
most
inspiring
story
and
it's
probably
the
darkest
day
in
Canadian
history
a
day
that
the
Canadians
are
very
embarrassed
about
.
In
fact
there
was
an
official
apology
from
the
Canadiangovernment
at
the
time".