SEPT 5- John Abraham on how he prepared for his secret agent act in Madras Cafe.
Don’t be a hero
“To be an agent, you can’t be larger than life but need to mingle with the crowd.” Given that Abraham’s earlier characters such as Manya Surve in Shootout at Lokhandwala, Armaan in Race 2 and ACP Yashvardhan in Force were more attention-seeking figures, the actor in his portrayal as army officer turned intelligence agent was more “subtle”. “We’ve tried to amplify the little behavioural nuances of agents in the film,” says Abraham. “The way I sat and spoke changed.”
Say bye bye to muscles
On the suggestion of the film’s director Shoojit Sircar, Abraham didn’t work out for seven to eight months to lose his much-envied physique. “It was psychologically tough,” says Abraham. “But my earlier physique made me stand out which didn’t suit the role of a secret agent.”
Read up on the political conflict
Abraham and Sircar studied the Justice Jain Commission and other reports to be as credible and honest as possible about the Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka and India’s covert operations between the mid 1980s and ’90s. “We can’t shy away from the true incidents and real-life situations,” says Abraham. “We must understand the events in history that changed the course of this country.”
Make it real
Sircar and Abraham, who is also the film’s producer, have tried to bring authenticity and credibility to the proceedings. “We worked with two retired R&AW officers,” says Abraham. “The guns we have used had real bullets, which required us to shoot the action sequences in Malaysia and Thailand.” Even the military equipment such as the choppers belonged to that era to make the film a “realistic political espionage thriller”.
Madras Cafe
Release date: Aug 23
Budget: Rs.35 crore
Opening day: Rs.4.90 crore
Opening weekend: Rs.21 crore
First week: Rs.34 crore
Box office (till Tue): Rs.42.80 crore.
INDIA TODAY
