John Abraham Biography – an Indian Actor & the Hulk of Bollywood

John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Known for his stoic action hero persona, he has won a National Film Award (as producer) and received nominations for five Filmfare Awards.

After a successful modeling career, Abraham made his acting debut with the erotic thriller film Jism (2003), a sleeper hit. He gained success with the action film Dhoom (2004) and expanded to comedic roles in Garam Masala (2005), Taxi No. 9211 (2006), and Dostana (2008). He also starred in the critically acclaimed dramas Water (2005), Kabul Express (2006), and New York (2009). In the subsequent decade, Abraham’s career fluctuated commercially. He had successes in the ensemble films Housefull 2 (2012), Race 2 (2013), and Welcome Back (2015), and in the acclaimed political thriller Madras Cafe (2013). Abraham subsequently had his biggest commercial successes as a leading man in the action dramas Parmanu (2018), Satyameva Jayate (2018), and Batla House (2019). In 2023, Abraham starred in his highest-grossing release, the action film Pathaan.

Abraham ventured into film production under his banner J.A. Entertainment with Vicky Donor (2012), which won him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. He has since produced several of his films and also wrote the story of Attack: Part 1 (2022). Outside of his film career, he is the co-owner of the Indian Super League football team NorthEast United FC. He is also a vegetarian and is an advocate for animal rights.

Early life (John Abraham Biography)

Abraham was born in Bombay, Maharashtra on 17 December 1972 into a family of mixed religious and ethnic heritage. His father is a Malayali Syrian Christian from Kerala and his mother is a Parsi Zoroastrian from Gujarat who has relatives still living in Iran, as many as 21 cousins. Abraham’s Zoroastrian name is “Farhan”, but he was baptized with the name “John.” He has a younger brother named Alan Abraham. He considers himself a spiritual person but does not follow any particular religion. Abraham grew up in Mumbai and studied at the Bombay Scottish School Mumbai. He attended Jai Hind College, University of Mumbai, and then got an MBA degree from MET Institute of Management, Bombay. His cousin Susy Matthew is an author and has written novels like In a Bubble of Time.

Career

Modeling career

Abraham started his modeling career by appearing in the music video of the song “Surma” by Punjabi singer Jazzy B. He then joined the media firm Time & Space Media Entertainment Promotions Ltd., which however got closed because of the financial crisis. Later, he worked for Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner. In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to the Philippines for Manhunt International, where he won second place. He later modeled in Hong Kong, London, and New York City, and appeared in a number of commercial advertisements and other music videos for singers including Pankaj Udhas, Hans Raj Hans, and Babul Supriyo. To improve his acting skills, Abraham joined Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute and completed an acting course while juggling modeling assignments.

Early work and struggle (2003)

Considered “the top model of India before he ventured into films”, Abraham made his acting debut with Jism in 2003, an erotic thriller film which according to Box Office India, was “Hit” grossing 1,32,50,000 Rs. He portrayed the role of Kabir Lal, a poor, alcoholic, and wayward lawyer who falls in love with Sonia Khanna (played by Bipasha Basu), a wife of a traveling millionaire, who plots to kill her own husband in the company of Kabir. The film met with mixed to positive reviews. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented: “Supermodel John Abraham makes a confident debut. The actor rises beyond his looks and registers a strong impact with his performance, more so towards the second half. His dashing looks and excellent physique only add to his persona”.

In the same year, Abraham appeared in Anurag Basu‘s horror paranormal romance film Saaya alongside Tara Sharma and Mahima Chaudhry. The film garnered mixed negative reviews and underperformed at the box office. Taran Adarsh wrote: “Saaya clearly belongs to John. No two opinions on that! Enacting a very difficult role, the newcomer actually performs like a veteran and delivers a performance that’s bound to win him nominations in the awards categories. His growth as an actor is tremendous!”

In 2003, he appeared in Pooja Bhatt‘s directorial debut film Paap alongside Udita Goswami. He portrayed the role of Shiven, a police officer, who falls for a Buddhist girl, Kaaya. The film underperformed at the box office, receiving mixed reviews, and also premiered at the Kara Film Festival. That same year, he appeared in Ahmed Khan’s film Lakeer – Forbidden Lines, co-starring Nauheed Cyrusi with other stars such as Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, and Sohail Khan, which also underperformed at the box office.

Recognition and commercial success (2004–2009)

In 2004, Abraham played Kabir, the main antagonist in Dhoom, an action film directed by Sanjay Gadhvi, and produced by Yash Raj Films, multi-starring Abhishek Bachchan, Esha Deol, Uday Chopra, and Rimi Sen. The film was the third highest-grossing film of the year, which gained him a Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role nomination.

In 2005, he starred in the action thrillers Elaan and Karam, both of which failed at the box office. He followed with the supernatural thriller Kaal and the comedy Garam Masala, both of which did well at the box office. Later that year, he had a role in Water, which portrayed the tragic fate of Hindu widows in British India in the 1930s. The film was written and directed by independent Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta. It was popular internationally and was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards. Abraham attended the ceremony along with the film’s crew and makers but the film lost to Germany’s The Lives of Others.

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. 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. Abraham’s performance in Taxi No. 9211 was praised by critics, noting that his performances are to be maturing with each new film. Nikhil Advani’s multi-starrer Salaam-e-Ishq was Abraham’s first release in 2007. The movie failed to do well at the Indian box office, though it did well in the overseas markets. His last two 2007 releases included the thriller No Smoking, and the sports film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, in which he sported a new look. The song “Ishq Ka Kalma” with his then-girlfriend Bipasha Basu was a hit song of that year.

In 2008, Abraham starred alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra in Dostana, his only release that year. His first release in 2009 was a production by Yash Raj Films, New York. Dostana was a commercial success and grossed 871 million Indian Rupees Worldwide. This was a turning point in his career.

Established actor and critical acclaim (2010–2019)

He has a fashion line – branded JA Clothes – which primarily features his favorite article of clothing, jeans.

In 2010, he 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 the films Force (2011), Desi Boyz (2011), and Housefull 2 (2012). Force and Housefull 2 were huge successes at the box office. Force earned 1.5 billion Indian Rupees Worldwide and Housefull 2 earned 1.86 billion Indian Rupees Worldwide. His first film of 2013 was the multi-starrer Race 2 which was commercially successful earning over 1.8 billion Indian Rupees Worldwide though his second release, the coming-of-age romantic comedy I, Me Aur Main, underperformed at the box office. His next release was Shootout at Wadala, in which he portrayed the role of a gangster Manya Surve, which gained positive reviews. The film emerged as a success at the box office. Then his movie Madras Cafe, which was also a second movie for him as a producer, garnered much critical acclaim, also the collections of the movie saw an upward trend after terrific word-of-mouth. His next release was Welcome Back, which was successful at the box office earning about 1.7 Billion Indian Rupees Worldwide.

Few setbacks and Pathaan (2020–present)

In 2021, Abraham appeared in Mumbai Saga and Satyameva Jayate 2, both of which were box-office disasters. He did a cameo in his own production Sardar Ka Grandson alongside Arjun Kapoor and Aditi Rao Hydari, which streamed on Netflix. He produced, wrote, and acted in the story of science-fiction actioner Attack: Part 1 (2022), where he co-starred with Rakul Preet Singh and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film was released theatrically on April 2022 with mixed reviews from critics who praised the action sequences while criticizing the screenplay, Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote, “Attack: Part 1 works due to the novel concept, action, VFX and John Abraham’s first-rate performance”. The film grossed ₹19.20 crore in India and ₹3.50 crore overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of ₹22.70 crores eventually bombing at the box office.

Abraham has other releases of 2023 are Tehran and Tariq, both directed by Arun Gopalan, with the former produced by Dinesh Vijan and the latter produced by himself. In addition, he is supposed to star in an untitled Sajid Khan-directed comedy with Riteish Deshmukh and the remake of the 2020 Malayalam film, Ayyappanum Koshiyum.

Producer

Abraham’s debut as a producer was titled Vicky Donor (2012) and the film featured Ayushmann Khurrana, Annu Kapoor, and Yami Gautam in lead roles. Abraham also appeared in an item number for the film. It opened to a positive response and turned out to be a critical and commercial success. His second production, Madras Cafe which was also directed by Shoojit Sircar, opened to an overwhelming response from the critics. In 2018, he produced the Marathi film, Savita Damodar Paranjpe.

Personal life (John Abraham Biography)

During the filming of Jism in 2002, Abraham began to date his co-star Bipasha Basu. They were in a relationship until early 2011. While together, the two were often referred to as a super couple in the Indian media. Abraham once stated, “I have always kept quiet about my personal life and will continue to maintain a dignified silence. It’s just the way my parents raised me. I rather leave it at speculation.” The couple broke up in 2011.

Abraham is now married to Priya Runchal, an Indian-American financial analyst and investment banker from the United States but native to McLeod Ganj, whom he met in Mumbai, in December 2010. They married on 3 January 2014. Runchal is also the chairperson of NorthEast United FC.

Abraham is a fitness model and he abstains from smoking, consuming alcohol, and any intoxicants. Due to this, he often avoids many parties and functions.

Abraham is a sport bike collector.

Off-screen work

Abraham also takes an active interest in the United Way, based in Denver, United States. In January 2009, he flagged off the Mumbai Marathon, an annual event organized to benefit the United Way. He did not run the marathon but encouraged the participants by waving at them from the start line.

Abraham is an animal lover and takes an interest in PETA and Habitat for Humanity. In April 2013, on behalf of PETA, Abraham wrote a letter to the Minister for Environment and Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan, asking that she make all circuses in India animal-free.

Abraham is also a celebrity supporter of UNHCR India and promotes the cause of refugees in India. According to his website, he donated ₹10 lacks (US$13,000) to the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai.

Filmography (John Abraham Biography)

Film

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

List of films and roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Jism	Kabir Lal	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut
	Saaya	Dr. Aakash Bhatnagar
	Paap	Inspector Shiven Verma
2004	Aetbaar	Aryan Trivedi
	Lakeer	Saahil Mishra
	Dhoom	Kabir Sharma	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Villain
	Madhoshi	Aman Joshi
2005	Elaan	Abhimanyu Singh
	Karam	John Wargas
	Kaal	Krish Thapar
	Viruddh	Amar Patwardhan
	Water	Narayan Dutt
	Garam Masala	Shyam Salgaonkar
2006	Zinda	Rohit Chopra	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Villain
	Taxi No. 9211	Jai Mittal
	Baabul	Rajat Verma	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Kabul Express	Suhel Khan
2007	Salaam-e-Ishq	Ashutosh Raina
	No Smoking	K
	Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal	Sunny Bhasin
2008	Dostana	Kunal Chauhan
2009	New York	Sameer Sheikh
2010	Aashayein	Rahul Sharma
	Jhootha Hi Sahi	Siddharth Arya / Fidato
2011	7 Khoon Maaf	Jamshed Singh Rathod / Jimmy Stetson
	Force	ACP Yashvardhan Singh / Yash	Remake of Tamil movie Kaakha Kaakha
	Desi Boyz	Nikhil Mathur / Nick
2012	Housefull 2	Max Mehrotra
	Vicky Donor	Rum Whisky Song Item Number Dancer	Special appearance Also producer National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Film
2013	Race 2	Ruthless Don Armaan Malik
	I, Me Aur Main	Music Producer Ishaan Sabharwal
	Shootout at Wadala	Criminal Manya Surve
	Madras Cafe	Lieutenant Major Vikram Singh	Also producer
2015	Welcome Back	Freedom Fighter Ajay Barsi / Ajju
2016	Rocky Handsome	Kabir Ahlawat / Rocky “Handsome”	Also singer for “Alfazon Ki Tarah Unplugged” with Shreya Ghoshal and Ankit Tiwari Also producer
	Dishoom	Kabir Shergill
	Force 2	ACP Yashvardhan Singh / Yash	Also producer
2018	Parmanu	Ashwat Raina	Also producer
	Satyameva Jayate	Veerendra “Veer” Rathore
	Savita Damodar Paranjpe	—	Marathi film Producer
2019	Romeo Akbar Walter	Rehamatullah “Romeo” Ali / Akbar Malik / Walter Khan
	Batla House	DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav	Also producer
	Pagalpanti	Raj Kishore
2021	Mumbai Saga	Criminal Amartya Rao Naik
	Sardar Ka Grandson	Gursher Singh	Special appearance Also producer Netflix film
	Satyameva Jayate 2	Dadasaheb Balram Azad , Satya Blaram Azad & Jay Balram Azad (Triple role)	Triple role
2022	Attack	Lieutenant Major Arjun Shergill	Also story writer Also producer
	Ek Villain Returns	Bhairav Purohit
	Mike	—	Malayalam film Producer
	Tara Vs Bilal		Producer
2023	Pathaan	Jim
	Tehran	DCP Dev Malvani	ProducerPost-production

Music videos (John Abraham Biography)

Year	Title	Performer	Ref.
1999	Mahek	Pankaj Udhas
2008	Koi Aanay Wala Hai	Strings
2013	“Betiyaan” (Save the Girl Child)	Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam

Accolades (John Abraham Biography)

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