Hindol Sengupta

New Delhi:

Model-turned-actor John Abraham has said he cannot do what is supposed to be a prime asset in a Bollywood hero — the ability to dance with multiple pelvic thrusts.

“I just cannot do something like that,” Abraham said in New Delhi while promoting his latest flick “Aetbaar.” “It’s just not me. I think the audience would be quite surprised to see me do something like that. I don’t even dance very well,” Abraham told in an interview.

Slouching in a thick armchair at the Le Meridien Hotel, sporting his now almost trademark gelled-back hair, pre-aged denims, fitting black T-shirt and a brown faux leather jacket, Abraham is the quintessential new-age Bollywood hunk.

His gait, a little lazy, eyes droopy as he lives his screen image of a bit of a sex idol, and the voice a soft, husky baritone, the two-film old Abraham is part of a new brigade of Bollywood entrants who are moving away from stereotypical image of the romantic or action Hindi film hero.

“I’m trying to carve out a niche for myself, which is a lot like the way I am in real life, so it’s far more easy to live my screen roles.”He is also one of the people, along with former girlfriend Bipasha Basu, who are being applauded for bringing back an overtly sensual feel to Bollywood by portraying uninhibited characters on screen.

“’Jism’, I think, changed a lot of things,” said Abraham, taking of the film that propelled him to stardom. In it, Basu played an adulterous wife involved in a major love-lust romp with Abraham.“It encouraged people to think that sensual can be accepted if done with style. It need not be vulgar at all.”

In his new film, actor-turned-director Pooja Bhatt’s ‘Paap’, Abraham plays a cop who is in love with, and is the object of fantasy for a young woman growing up within the strict boundaries of a monastery.

“In all my films, I’ve tried to be the way I’m. A bit laidback, a bit intense and yes, a bit sexy.”A teetotaller, who only smokes in his films, Abraham is trying to break the old myth that models cannot act.

“Models are as good or as bad as any new comer to the industry. You, of course, get better as you keep working but it’s not necessarily true that a model will be particularly bad.”The actor, who confesses to gorging on rice — “my father is from Kerala and we are always eating heaps of rice” — said one of his dreams came true when he worked with Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Aetbaar’.

“He is just fabulous. On the sets, he is just the most lovable person around and when he leaves, there’s always a roar of applause.”Next, Abraham will be seen in Deepa Mehta’s ‘River Moon’, and a film from Yash Johar’s Dharma Films.

“I’ve got some interesting projects but I’m just testing the waters. And as of now, I’m competition to no one,” he smiled.