It’s the season of highly awaited sequels. This week will see John Abraham returning as ACP Yashvardhan in the sequel to the high octane action drama Force. Force 2 promises double the stunts, action and emotion. Joining John are Sonakshi Sinha who plays a RAW agent while Tahir Raj Bhasin of Mardaani fame steps into the shoes of the antagonist.

We caught up with the cast of the film to know more about their roles, the high octane action in the film and more.

John Abraham

John Abraham - Pandolin.com

John Abraham at the trailer launch of Force 2

Given the current scenario in the country, how relevant is Force 2 in today’s time?

We planned this film more than a year ago and at that time, this sense of nationalism, which is prevalent at present wasn’t there. It is the unfortunate Uri attack that has made the movie far more relevant than it would have been. We had never planned or had any intentions of releasing the movie around a certain attack, this was just a coincidence. But yes, I think the movie is relevant in today’s time.

Force 2 is commercial yet credible

Is the movie based on a true story, if yes then have you kept its commercial viability intact?

Abhinay (Deo) and I were always fascinated about working on a film based on true stories. This film is an amalgamation of stories inspired by true events. Various stories of RAW agents and spies have been put together to create something that we thought was very credible. At the same time, we were clear that we wanted to make a commercial film and not a documentary. We didn’t want to come across as preachy and moreover, Force is a hardcore commercial franchise. In other words, the movie is commercial yet credible.

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Sonakshi Sinha

John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha

John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha

Like your previous film Akira, even Force 2 is an action – packed film. Is there any similarity in terms of the action?

In this film, you actually get to see a lot more variety in action. In Akira, the action was very raw and rugged, but in Force 2 it is very stylized and extremely sleek. There are car chases in the film along with hand-to-hand combat, which is shot in a very different manner. In fact, the characters of both the movies are very different. In Akira, I played a college girl whereas in this film I am a RAW agent so the scenarios are very different.

In Akira, the action was very raw and rugged, but in Force it is very stylized and extremely sleek

There are just a handful of films where we see actresses performing stunts. Do you think the audience is taking time to see women in action?

I got some great feedback for the action sequences that I did in Akira. But whether or not the audience is taking time to adjust to seeing actresses in action is yet to be seen. But from what I know, I was really appreciated and I am glad about that because it is about time that female characters got some action. Why should boys have all the fun! (laughs)

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Tahir Raj Bhasin

Tahir Raj Bhasin

Tahir Raj Bhasin

You played the negative lead in your first film Mardaani and are now playing antagonist in Force 2 as well. How different are the two characters?

In Mardaani the character was dark and gritty, but in Force 2 the character is more into the grey space. He has a sense of humor and is sarcastic, plus, he is a lot more open with his protagonist. The character is also fashion conscious. Surprisingly, he doesn’t like violence; he is an antagonist who very openly says that he doesn’t like violence.

My character is an antagonist who very openly says that he doesn’t like violence

Having played villain in two consecutive films, are there any apprehensions of getting stereotyped?  

I believe that if you are playing a gangster you can have a soft side to the character or if you are playing a romantic lover boy, there can be a dark side to you. For me, it is interesting to play characters have some depth to them. Plus, I can think of many examples of great actors who started off with negative roles and have then gone out and played all kinds of characters. One of them is Shahrukh Khan and the other is Irrfan Khan who started with negative roles. I think in today’s space, you have to prove yourself with your work. The important thing is that the audience should like what you have done with the character. You are a winner if you can make the audience feel for your character.

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