Recently John went to see his latest film Taxi 9211 with a thousand cab drivers. He told them bikes are better than Taxis and they taught him how to actually put meter down (by making it upside down from right side and not from left side as he was doing). He had so much fun with them. And now John Abraham gets candid about taxis, his co-star Nana and the film Taxi 9211.

John on taxis
Cabs form the pulse of Mumbai. I remember a picture in The Times of India recently when there was a taxi strike in the city and all the cabs were parked outside the airport. The yellow and black combination looks fantastic. They keep Mumbai moving and we all owe a lot to them for their services.

John childhood experience with cabbies
When I was in school a cab driver used to take me every day from Andheri to Mahim. Traveling by cab was fun in those days but now, due to increasing traffic, I think the journey is no longer pleasant.

John’s funny moments with cabbies
The cabbie who used to take me to school every day had a fleet of 10 taxies, yet his name was Garib Singh! There was another driver called Ranjit Singh who used to drive really fast, and Lambu Singh drove really slow. I preferred Ranjit and Garib to Lambu, any day.

John on cab unions being unhappy about the film
I think they should not feel that they have been ill-treated in the film. I think Milan Luthria has tried to bring out the human side of the story. Nana Patekar, as Raghav Sharma, represents cabbies. I am sure that all the cab drivers will love the film.

John still takes cabs
Yes, I do take cabs and even auto-rickshaws if required. During the shooting of Garam Masala, I had to take a cab to Filmcity because my mom needed the car. The driver played the Adnan Sami track from my film Garam Masala. Later he told me, “Meri taxi aap ki bike ki tarah fast nahin chalegi.” (My cab won’t go as fast as your motorbike)

John’s comfort level in cabs
I can barely fit into a cab any more. See, my height is more than 6 feet. So, during the shooting of Taxi Number 9211, when my director asked me to sit in the driver’s seat of a cab, I got stuck and I couldn’t come out!

Cabs v/s cool cabs: We have made a customised cab for the music video. It’s an open hood car, which is stylish. I don’t think the cabs are as cool as my customised cab.

John’s dancing feet’s
Sameera Reddy is a fantastic dancer, so it’s difficult for me to match steps with her. But I think the songs are looking nice because she has covered up my flaws in the dance numbers.

John getting cold feet working with Nana
I share a brilliant rapport with Nana Patekar. In fact he says that after Madhuri and Aishwarya’s ‘Dola Re’ combination, our jodi is the best in Taxi Number 9211. Nana told me, “You smile and I’ll frown, and we’ll make a deadly album.”

John’s truce with Rituparno Ghosh
I never had a fight with him, to begin with. I am extremely fond of Rituparno as a filmmaker and I never had any argument with him. When he had approached me for ‘Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam’ to play Bhoonath’s character, I was not happy with the first draft. However, I have genuine date problems and my dates with Rituparno are clashing with the dates I have already committed to Ravi Chopra for Babul and Nikhil Advani for Salaam E Ishq. So I might opt out from Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam because of my dates.

John turning Arjun in Ghosh’s Draupadi
Rituparno has expressed his desire to cast me as Arjun in Draupadi with Bipasha Basu, but he is still working on the script.

John you are the sexiest man alive
I take that as a compliment. It was an audience poll conducted by Zoom Television and I am glad that people have voted me as the sexiest man alive. I am very conscious about my looks and the way I present myself.