John Abraham talks about producers' lack of faith, appreciates Nitish Rajput for being unbiased

Recently John Abraham opened up on the lack of faith he is met with from producers within the film industry. Although John has produced films such as Vicky Donor, Madras Cafe, and Batla House, all of which received critical acclaim, it continues to be difficult to convince studios to bet on his ideas. 

The film star conveyed his concerns on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast The Ranveer Show, admitting that working towards unique content often gets difficult as producers are too focused on budget constraints.

During the same podcast, John also commented on his appreciation towards YouTuber Nitish Rajput and his content on educational and social matters Nicole Nitish has a significant following online. John said, “I produced Vicky Donor, I did films like Madras Cafe and Batla House – but till today, I have to convince studio heads that this is a different film, and please fund my process. Till today, they don’t have 100 per cent faith, and they tell me that the budget is too much.” The actor expressed his frustration with years of attempting to push meaningful cinema and hesitance from entities with financial power.

In an interesting fact, John also talked about how his financial demands are not pushing, revealing that he wants the focus to lie on content rather than his income. “As an actor, my fee doesn’t burden the film. I have a basic sensibility that says if the film makes money, I will make money. I don’t want to press down on the film and say ‘Give me money’. Toh meri jo aukaat hai, jo mera standard hai, I make films according to that. I am very proud of my content,” he said. This statement also evidently illustrates his frustration with the fact that he cannot break into creating a larger amount of content. 

Although John mentioned this during the podcast, one of the reasons for the absence of roles is his limited use of WhatsApp, which he thinks affects his ability to communicate with studio heads. He illustrated it by “The other day I sent a message to a studio head; you know what he said? He just said, ‘Let me quickly Whatsapp you back’, what does that even mean? 4.5 months have gone by, and he hasn’t replied yet, obviously I haven’t felt bad. He should respond, no? This lack of response shows that he still feels producers don’t fully trust his view, although he is still eager to try and change Indian cinema. “I believe that if people trust in me a bit, I would like to try and change Indian cinema a bit. I am not saying I am world-changing, but I want to try,” he said.

John also spoke about YouTuber Nitish Rajput positively and openly in response to the interviewer’s questions. “Yes, I like him and his content,” said John cheerfully. When discussing social, political, or educational issues, present them quite objectively. He praised Nitish Rajput for the fact that news from good sources begins to sound less biased and more efficient. In John’s opinion, a quality that true Youtubers share is the ability to simplify complex topics and capture a broad audience with meaningful information for people. “Nitish always tries to take news from good sources,” John noted, “ I can say Nitish Rajput is in the middle. I would like to meet this guy you know and chill with him, yeah, because he is smart. I love smart people.” Even in these few sentences, John’s blatant love for Nitish Rajput's work and his respect for him as a content creator is evident. 

While John asked for more faith from the producers, this example demonstrates to what extent he is willing to trust other filmmakers and film producers. According to Bennett, this reasoning may imply that John is ready for new forms of media.