John Abraham: “Our industry is like a basket full of crabs”

The demonetisation process currently taking place in India has affected box office collections of major films and many producers have pushed back the release date of their films as they wait for the movement to conclude. However, for superstar John Abraham, it was just another day at the office as he released ‘Force 2’ (2016) last Friday, as scheduled.

The 41-year-old felt postponing the release of his film would not have helped improved the situation, and that other filmmakers would not have pushed the release of their respective movies to accommodate John’s release, reports the Hindustan Times. He said, “As a producer, you have to understand that after your film releases, there are twenty other films releasing in a domino effect. Will everyone oblige your film and push theirs by a week? No. Everyone wants to be safe here,” says Abraham, adding, “Remember one thing: Our industry is like a basket full of crabs. So, even if one is trying to get out of it, they will pull you back.”

Abraham acknowledged the current phase the film industry is going through, and he has come to terms with the financial fate of his film. “Everyone knows that demonetisation has affected things. So I will not lie and say that it won’t impact the film. There will be a considerable impact, especially single screens because they deal mostly in cash. Right now, the common man would want to spend cash on basic necessities rather than buying movie tickets,” he says.

Abraham went on to add, “We are not here for the numbers anymore, but we are here to entertain them. So we decided to stay with our release and we are confident of our film. I am not nervous at all.”

‘Force 2’ is out in cinemas now.