John Abraham is a prominent Indian actor, producer, and model. After modeling for several brands, Abraham broke onto the Bollywood scene in 2004, when he played a negative role in the cult film
Dhoom. After producing the hit film
Vicky Donor in 2012, the actor established his own production house, John Abraham Entertainment.
Not only is John Abraham a prominent actor and producer but also a national fitness icon.
Early LifeJohn Abraham, originally named Farhan Abraham, was born on 17 December 1972 in Kochi, Kerala. His father Abraham John is a Malayali and his mother Firoza Irani is a Zoroastrian. John Abraham has a sister, Susy Mathew, and a brother, Alan Abraham.
John Abraham went to Bombay Scottish School, earned his Bachelor`s in Economics from Jai Hind College, and did his Masters in Business Administration from the Mumbai Education Trust. He began working as a media planner before deciding to pursue a career in modeling.
Personal LifeIn 2002, during the filming of
Jism, John Abraham and his co-star
Bipasha Basu started dating. The two of them, referred to as one of Bollywood`s super couples, dated for around nine years until they called quits on their relationship in 2011. John Abraham is now married to Priya Runchal, a USA-based financial analyst and investor, native to McLeodganj, Himachal Pradesh.
Acting careerJohn Abraham began his career as a model, appearing in the music video for the song Surma by Punjabi singer
Jazzy B. After winning several modeling contests in the late 1990`s, Abraham started appearing in commercial advertisements and music videos. In order to make it in Bollywood, the model enrolled in Kishore Namit Kapoor`s acting classes.
John Abraham made his acting debut in 2003, opposite Bipasha Basu in the erotic thriller Jism. The film did reasonably well and Abraham was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. However, his next few films like
Saaya,
Paap, and
Lakeer- Forbidden Lines, flopped at the box office.
The actor`s fortunes took a turn for the better when he played the lead antagonist in Yash Raj Films` 2004 action movie
Dhoom, which saw John Abraham receive his second Filmfare nomination. His following films Kaal and
Garam Masala were reasonably successful but his role in his last film of 2005,
Water, put him in the spotlight. Water, a film directed by Canadian film-maker Deepa Mehta on the plight of Hindu widows in the 1930`s British-ruled India was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards, in 2006.
The model turned actor had a bitter-sweet 2006, with his films
Taxi No. 9211 and
Kabul Express doing well but
Zinda and Baabul failing to do so. After a moderately successful 2007, Abraham`s only release of 2008,
Dostana, alongside
Abhishek Bachchan and
Priyanka Chopra went on to be a commercial success. Over the next few years, John Abraham acted in movies like
Force,
Housefull 2,
Race 2, and
Shootout at Wadala, of which the last two were well received. The filmstar then acted in and produced the 2013 political thriller
Madras Cafe, which was well received critically and eventually did extremely well at the box office, following its commendable reviews from critics and fans alike.
John Abraham`s 2016 releases included the action thriller Rocky Handsome, the action-comedy Dishoom and Force 2. Of these,
Dishoom, where he starred alongside Varun Dhawan, was a runaway box office success, earning over INR 120 crores worldwide. After a one-year hiatus, the actor appeared in the historical action drama
Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018), which chronicled India`s second confidential nuclear test series at Pokhran in the 1990s. The film received mixed to positive reviews upon its release and was a box office success. In the same year, he starred in the vigilante action film Satyameva Jayate directed by Milap Milan Zaveri, which was a commercial success despite the underwhelming critical response.
The spy thriller
Romeo Akbar Walter (2019) directed by Robbie Grewal, the action thriller
Batla House (2019) based on the 2008 Batla House encounter and the romantic comedy
Pagalpanti (2019) are some of John`s other significant projects. His 2021 releases include Sanjay Gupta`s crime drama movie
Mumbai Saga and
Satyamev Jayate 2. He also produced Sardar Ka Grandson. His 2022 releases includes
Attack and
Ek Villain Returns.