Early life
Born in Mumbai, India on December 17, 1972, John Abraham is one of the most successful male models in India, His height is 6' 1". Abraham's father is a Malayali Christian architect, from Alwaye, Kerala in India. His mother, Phiroza Irani, is part of Bombay's Parsi community. Abraham's Parsi name is Farhan but his father gave him the name John. He has one younger brother, Alan.
Abraham first went to the Bombay Scottish School and later to Jai Hind College. He was an avid sportsman, captaining the college football team. He earned his M.B.A degree from Mumbai Educational Trust (MET).
Career
Abraham started his career with the media firm Time & Space Media Entertainment Promotions Ltd., which however closed down due to financial problems. Later, he worked for Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner.
Modeling
In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to Singapore for Manhunt International, where he won second place. Following this, he appeared in a number of commercial advertisements. To further hone his acting skills, John Abraham joined Kishore Namit Kapoor acting lab and successfully completed a course on acting while juggling modelling assignments.
Acting
Abraham made his film debut in 2003 with the controversial film Jism. The film did well, and his work was noticed widely. Later the same year came the paranormal Saaya (2003) and the romantic Paap (2004); neither of them did well at box-office. John's first blockbuster hit came with the movie Dhoom in 2004 where he played the role of the villain 'Kabir'.
In 2005 he starred in the supernatural thriller Kaal and the comedy Garam Masala both of which did well at the box office. Later that year he had a major role in the critically acclaimed film Water, which portrayed the tragic fate of Hindu widows in colonial India (See British India). The film was written and directed by independent Canadian film-maker Deepa Mehta. The film was popular overseas, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards, which exposed John to a more international audience.
In the summer of 2006, he performed at the "Rockstars Concert" along with fellow bollywood stars, Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Esha Deol, Shahid Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat. In the same year, he starred in the films Zinda, Taxi No 9211, Baabul and Kabul Express (2006). Among these Taxi No 9211 , Kabul Express were substantially successful.
Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love was Abraham's first release in 2007. The movie failed to do well at the Indian box office, but was successful in the overseas market. His last two 2007 releases were the offbeat thriller No Smoking and the sports film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.
John is playing an environmentalist activist in Deepa Mehta's new film Luna (currently under production) starring Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz and Chris Cooper.
Abraham with girlfriend Bipasha Basu at the launch of the Filmfare magazine (2007)Apart from his movie commitments, John is also the brand ambassador for Castrol Power 1 and for the Yamaha Marque.
Personal life
Abraham is currently dating actress Bipasha Basu,
John loves wearing jeans and his own brand (JA) clothes.
Awards and nominations
Main article: List of John Abraham's awards and nominations
Filmography
Year Film Role Notes
2003 Jism Kabir Lal Nomination, Filmfare Best Debut Award
Saaya Dr. Akash "Akki"
2004 Aetbaar Aryan Trivedi
Paap Shiven
Lakeer - Forbidden Lines Saahil
Dhoom Kabir Nomination, Filmfare Best Villain Award
Madhoshi Aman
2005 Elaan Abhimanyu
Karam John
Kaal Krish Thapar
Viruddh... Family Comes First Amar
Water Narayana
Garam Masala Sam
Shikhar Himself Special Appearance
2006 Zinda Rohit Chopra Nomination, Filmfare Best Villain Award
Taxi Number 9211 Jai Mittal
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna DJ Special Appearance in song Where's The Party Tonight?
Baabul Rajat Verma Nomination, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
Kabul Express Suhel Khan
2007 Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love Ashutosh
Hattrick Himself Special Appearance in song Wicket Bacha
No Smoking K
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal Sunny Bhasin
