One can seldom think of John Abraham without also thinking of his passion for fitness. Sitting down with us for an exclusive chat on a recent visit to the capital, the actor not only addresses his love for working out but also gives us a glimpse into how his philosophy of well-being extends far beyond good food, good exercise and good sleep. In the city for a special masterclass organised by Reebok and Jabong, he opens up about his concept of me-time, the life lessons experience has taught him and the next organic progression in his cinematic journey. “I think being psychologically at peace is the most important pre-requisite for true well-being,” John affirms as he points out that in his view, stress is the single largest destroyer of people everywhere in the world. “Especially in urban, metropolitan societies we’re all just running from point A to point B, sometimes without understanding why we’re running so fast or running at all. In that scenario, me-time is extremely important. Just spending 20 minutes i n a day alone, with only myself for company, can go a long way towards ensuring my well-being. It’s what people often call ‘meditation’ and is one of the most difficult things to actually do. If you can get through those 20 minutes all by yourself — beginning with five, then moving to 10 and so on — then you’ll begin to understand what you really want from yourself for the rest of the day, week, month, year It takes a tremendous amount of effort, believe me, but I think I’m getting there,” he shares and adds, “I’m trying to understand my limitations and my flaws through that process. I’ve come to realise with time that as you grow in life and as you experience more, you see that you have a lot more to learn. When you’re young, you think you know it all but it’s actually the other way round and you never, ever stop learning.”
Ask him if he takes the same approach in his professional space and he responds, “The notions that I apply to fitness and well-being, I apply to films and life in general, really. I make mistakes everywhere and I learn from them all. It’s part of the process. And I always work on as well as around my limitations — like say, for example, if my lower back is weak, I’ll work hard on it by picking up some form of exercise that focuses on that particular area. In films, if I don’t dance very well, I’ll take an extra day’s rehearsal and work through every minute of it. Similarly, in life, if I feel that I’ve gone wrong somewhere and have hurt someone, I’ll try and do things differently so that I don’t hurt anyone again.”
He does, then, believe in an individual’s capacity to change “Yes, I do. It’s a time-consuming process, but it’s possible. People often say that a leopard can’t change its spots, sure, but I believe that people can. The way I see it, with experience, greatness and power can also come humility and if you can manage to strike a balance between them all, you can become as good a human being as you want to become,” he opines.
The actor is, at the moment, gearing up for a series of releases including Force 2 and Dishoom. In the capacity of a producer, he tells us that he’s looking at scripts and some good projects are in the pipeline there too. Reflecting on the next logical step he might take along his cinematic journey, he muses, “I’ve always been fascinated with participating directorially in my films. That’s not just an organic progression but something I really want to do. I don’t know whether I’ll be good at it or not, but there have certainly been times where I’ve seen a shot and had a nagging feeling that I could have shot it better.” Ask him if he is likely to don the director’s hat any time soon and he says, “I suppose when the calling happens, it will. Maybe not in the near future, but I do eventually want to direct.”
