John Abraham: Was 100 percent sure we would wait only for a theatrical release, no other way

The pandemic might have sent every plan into a tizzy for everyone, but John Abraham was sure about one thing: His film Satyameva Jayate 2 will only release in theatres, whenever they would have reopened.

“I was a 100 percent sure we had to wait. If we had to wait for another six months, we would have for a theatrical release, there was no other way. We were very clear,” says the 48-year-old, who will be seen stepping into the shoes of not one, not two but three characters in the film.

But what the re opening of theatres has also led to is a barrage of back to back releases every week, and in fact, Satyameva Jayate 2 and Salman Khan’s Antim: The Final Truth both open in theatres with barely a day’s gap.

Should all filmmakers have had a discussion to avoid this division of audiences at least initially? Abraham agrees, “I feel at least in the first six months, all films should have decided to give each other some space. But unfortunately, I also understand the reality that there are more films than space. If clashes are imminent, so be it. We can only wish well for others, that’s it.”

So far, SJ 2 has had two trailers being released, and the actor reveals he prefers the second one more. “It is because that is the grain of the film, so I enjoyed that a lot. The songs are doing really well. Surprisingly, Jan Gan Mann has taken off more than I expected. My favorite song though is always going to be Meri Zindagi. Everything depends on whether you have audiences coming in and thankfully Sooryavanshi has opened the floodgates of that. So we hope audiences come in and get entertained,” says the actor, doing a triple role for the first time in his career.

He corrects us by saying it is also the first time he plays a double role. Describing shooting the characters as ‘overwhelming’, he continues, “I initially refused to do the third role and said it’s too much for me. Then Milap (Zaveri, director) convinced me and said ‘listen, this role is very important’ and honestly, he was right. For me, that’s my best role in the film. I totally love it. Those 45 minutes in the film are beyond fantastic. Rest of the film is entertaining, fun, but that third role of a farmer takes the film to another high. You are with him and root for him. I felt overworked at times, but we enjoyed the process because Milap is a positive guy. I complain a lot, but he is optimistic so more power to him.”