Writer-director Milap Zaveri is excited about his vigilante action thriller Satyameva Jayate releasing this Independence Day especially because it has superhero John Abraham getting back to basics and the raw action he is popular for. “I’ve always associated John with power. It’s evident that he’s physically fit and strong. So when we were discussing the action scenes of Satyameva Jayate, I made it clear to the action director that I didn’t want the regular kicks, punches and blows. I wanted something that underlines just how powerful John’s character is in the film,” Milap explains.

Recommended Read: Kamal Haasan in August countdown with Akshay Kumar and John Abraham

What he got was John displaying his awesome muscle power by ripping a tyre apart when the baddie tries to restrain him by putting the tyre around him. John himself wondered if the scene would look believable. So Milap reassured him, “If anyone can pull off such a scene and make it look believable, it’s you.” True enough. Nowadays, the yardstick of measure for male strength in the city’s gyms is the test where members are asked to raise a heavy truck tyre off the floor and flip it over. After Satyameva Jayate, will gyms ask their hunks to see if they can also rip the tyre apart? They just might.

The thing about John is that his macho man screen image apart, he likes to remind fans that he is no fitness guru but a regular guy. “I set goals, miss targets, and then get demotivated. I struggle to deal with failure, with criticism, defeat and injuries. But I know what results genuine hard work can achieve if you love your body and treat it with respect. Exercise should be a way of life, not a phase of life. I want to get to a point where I can say, yes, I’ve got what it takes. Meanwhile, I continue to crawl and fall, I despair, I cry tears of pain. But that’s acceptable because pain and injury are temporary, pride is forever. A great physique doesn’t happen by accident,” he once told us.