After a period of serious re-thinking, John Abraham has gone on a signing spree.

Apparently he’s doing as many as 12 films now, ranging from a sequel on male bonding (Dostana 2) to a boys-having-fun comedy (Desi Boys) to a science-fiction flick (Alien Sahib) to a full-on action flick co-starring Asin.

John Abraham has 4 back-to-back films to shoot this year. He first shoots for Vishal Bhardwaj’s Saat Khoon Maaf in Coorg next week, then Nishikant Kamat’s film for producer Vipul Shah. Then John moves to Dostana 2 in July for which he has been preparing urgently. This time there would be more meat, not just in terms of physical exposure but also his role, which is being expanded and re-worked by director Tarun Mansukhani, who feels too much attention was given to John’s physique in the first Dostana. From October 20 John starts shooting for Rohit Dhawan’s Desi Boys.

Speaking on the flurry of assignments John laughs, “It’s not about the number of assignments. It’s about the quality of work I do. If I may say so myself, the audience that comes to watch my films has a certain expectation, especially after the two back-to-back successes, Dostana and New York, that I had. I won’t be able to face my audience if they go away disappointed. So yes, I’m doing three films one after the other this year, starting with Nishikant Kamat’s film and then going on to Dostana 2. On the day that the shooting of Dostana 2 ends, I start shooting for David Dhawan’s son Rohit’s Desi Boys with Akshay Kumar. So it’s a very crowded year for me.”

Poopoohing the talk that his films are being shelved, John says, “Some of my films got delayed because of various reasons, nothing to do with me. Why make me the face of all the problems faced by my films? I can only say with complete certainty that no film of mine will ever get delayed because of me. And no film of mine will be shelved if I can help it. ”

- Subhash K. Jha / Sampurn Wire