John Abraham was ready to return ‘Garam Masala’ fee, was “Sweating” doing comedy reveals Akshay Kumar |
‘Garam Masala’ (2005), starring Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Paresh Rawal, turned out to be a huge commercial hit and still enjoys a strong fan following today. Akshay, known for his effortless comic timing, was joined by John, who had largely been associated with serious roles before this film. Akshay had earlier revealed in an interview that John was visibly nervous during the initial shoot days and had almost decided to walk away from the project.
John Abraham asked Priyadarshan to drop him from the film
In the podcast with Shubhankar Mishra, he shared, “It was his first or second day. He was doing comedy and it is very hard to do comedy in front of Priyadarshan because of the way he takes the shot. John was sweating badly. He told me that he can’t do this film. He even went to Priyadarshan and asked, ‘Can you drop me from this film? I don’t want to do it. Priyan asked about what happened, he replied that it’s too fast, everything is too fast, there’s no time to breathe.”
John Abraham was willing to return his fee and quit the film
At one point, John was even willing to return his fee and step away from the film, but things turned around once filmmaker Priyadarshan stepped in, reassured him, and encouraged him to work at his own comfortable pace. “And he was actually not able to do it. Then, Priyan took him to his room, calmed him down and said that he can do it on his pace. Otherwise, he was ready to give back the money and leave the film, he just wasn’t able to do it. One can’t do everything so quickly, it was confusing. You cannot shoot four scenes today and then expect to film the climax the very next day,” Akshay recalled.
Priyadarshan denies rumours of cutting John Abraham’s scenes
Speculation had also previously circulated suggesting that Akshay had gotten co-star John’s scenes cut down in the hit film. Putting these rumours to rest during a 2005 interview with Rediff, filmmaker Priyadarshan said, “Am I an idiot to let one of my actors make my film for me? This is nothing but a figment of a troublesome journalist’s imagination. It may be some people’s idea of publicity, not mine. I’ve been around for too long to let actors dictate to me. Akshay never showed the slightest inclination to invade John’s territory. In fact, I’ve been in touch with John. Not once has he expressed any grievance against Akshay. So who are these people spreading these rumours?”.
John Abraham and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Garam Masala’ also starred Paresh Rawal
Directed by Priyadarshan, the 2005 comedy ‘Garam Masala’ starred Akshay Kumar and John Abraham in lead roles, alongside Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Neha Dhupia and Rimi Sen. The plot revolves around two photographer friends, Mac (Akshay Kumar) and Sam (John Abraham), who juggle secret relationships with three air hostesses at once, leading to a string of hilarious mishaps.
