John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian film actor, producer and former model. After modeling for numerous advertisements and companies, Abraham made his film debut with Jism (2003), which earned him a Filmfare Best Debut Award nomination.[1] This was followed by his first commercial success, Dhoom (2004). He received two Filmfare Award nominations, for his negative roles in Dhoom, and then in Zinda (2006).
He later appeared in the major critical success Water (2005).[2] He was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Baabul (2006). In 2012, he produced his first production Vicky Donor which was a critical and commercial success. He then established his own production house, John Abraham Entertainment.
John was born in Mumbai to a Malayali, Syrian Christian father and a Parsi mother. His father is an architect from Aluva, Kerala; his mother is named Firoza Irani. Abraham's Parsi name is "Farhan" while his father being a Marthomite Syrian Christian named him "John". He has a sister Susy Mathew and younger brother, Alan. Abraham studied at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim in Mumbai. He got his bachelor's degree in economics from Jai Hind College. John also received an MMS from Mumbai Educational Trust (MET).
John Abraham started his modelling career appearing in the music video of the song "Surma" by Punjabi singer Jazzy B. He then joined a media firm Time & Space Media Entertainment Promotions Ltd., which, however, closed because of financial problems. Later, he worked for Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner.[15] In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to the Philippines for Manhunt International, where he won second place. Following this, he was signed by Carrie Models in Singapore and did some modelling there; he later modelled in Hong Kong, London and New York City. He also appeared in a number of commercial advertisements and in other music videos for singers including Pankaj Udhas, Hans Raj Hans and Babul Supriyo. To improve his acting skills, Abraham joined the Kishore Namit Kapoor acting laboratory and completed an acting course while juggling modelling assignments.
Abraham made his acting debut with Jism (2003), a thriller film which according to Box Office India, was "above average" grossing 132,500,000.
His next films included a paranormal thriller Saaya (2003), Pooja Bhatt's directorial debut Paap (2004) and Ahmed Khan's Lakeer – Forbidden Lines (2004).
He played the role of Kabir – the main antagonist in Dhoom in 2004, an action film produced by Yash Raj Films. The film was one of the highest grossing films of that year.
In 2005 he starred in the supernatural thriller Kaal and the comedy Garam Masala both of which did well at the box office.[20] Later that year, he had a role in Water, which portrayed the tragic fate of Hindu widows in British India of the 1930s. The film was written and directed by independent Canadian film-maker Deepa Mehta. It was popular internationally, and was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards.[citation needed]
In the summer of 2006, Abraham performed at the "Rockstars Concert" along with fellow Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Esha Deol, Shahid Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat.[21] In that same year, he starred in the films Zinda, Taxi No. 9211, Baabul and Kabul Express. Among these Taxi No. 9211 and Kabul Express were substantially successful.
Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love was Abraham's first release in 2007. The movie failed to do well at the Indian box office,[23] though it did well in the overseas markets.[24] His last two 2007 releases included the arthouse thriller No Smoking and the sports film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.
In 2008, Abraham starred alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra in Dostana, his only release that year. His first release of 2009 was a production by Yash Raj Films, New York.
He has a fashion line— branded JA Clothes — which primarily features his favorite article of clothing, jeans.
In 2011, was seen in the films Aashayein and Jhootha Hi Sahi. Both of the films turned out to be box office failures. Lately, Abraham has appeared in films Force (2011), Desi Boyz (2011), and Housefull 2 (2012). His first film of 2013 was Race 2 which was a multi starrer and a comercial hit while his second release was I, Me Aur Main, which did average business. He is currently working on Shootout at Wadala, in which he will be portraying the role of Manya Surve.
