Film industry not secular: John Abraham

John Abraham says the film industry is not a "100 per cent secular" place.

The action star, who is looking forward to the release of his film "Batla House", believes the world is polarised and the best way to get out of it is to deal with it.

"Who told you that the industry is secular? The industry is not 100 per cent secular. It's polarized. This is a fact of life. The problem is that the world is polarized.

"There is a dialogue in 'Batla House' that 'it is not that a particular community is suffering, the entire world is suffering'. Look at (Donald) Trump, look at Brexit, look at Boris Johnson - the world is polarized today. You are living in this world and you have to deal with it. Having said that, I feel this is the best country and the best industry," John said in a group interview here.

On patriotism of a person being questioned on the basis of religion, the actor said, "It is not right. It is ridiculous."

John believes social media has become a medium to spread toxicity in society.

"On social media, none of us have a face so most toxic statements are made on social media. Do not believe in social media," he added.

"Batla House", directed by Nikkhil Advani, is based on the encounter that took place on September 19, 2008, when a team of the Delhi Police Special Cell raided a flat in Batla House in south Delhi's Jamia Nagar on a tip-off that the alleged terrorists involved in September 13, 2008, serial blasts in the national capital were holed up there.

In the film, John plays the role of a police officer named DCP Sanjeev Kumar.

The actor said he was keen to understand from the officer what actually happened to post the encounter as there were a lot of contradictory views on it.

"He had PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and he said he wanted to commit suicide. And the day he went for 'Batla House' encounter his wife wanted to leave him.

"He was going through stress in his personal life and after the encounter, he was going through PTSD, this character became very interesting to play."

Talking about the lack of psychological care for the police force, John said, cops undergo a lot of stress and trauma in real life and through "Batla House" the attempt is to show their sacrifices.

"We all need counseling at some point in our life, we think it is a disease and we don't tell anyone we are going for counseling. In case of cops, the trauma is more they don't know if they will come back home, they are overworked, don't have holidays they are not respected like how the military (officers) are, why not respect cops?.

"There is always an impression attached with cops, you are always entertained by the 'Simmba', 'Singham' but you will not respect a cop. With 'Batla House' we are trying to show the real side of a cop, the sacrifices they make," he added.

John said it is a responsibility to play a real-life character.

"The pressure is more to play a real-life character. I am playing ACP Sanjay Kumar and he is still operating in Delhi Special Cell. So there is a pressure that, have I played him right? Both Nikkhil and I are eager to see his reaction."

The film will be clashing at the box office with Akshay Kumar's "Mission Mangal" on August 15.

John said both his and Akshay's film is high on content and he is hopeful the audience will enjoy watching both the movies.

"The good thing is that two credible films are releasing on the same day and there is enough business for two films and both Akshay and I know that. It is a great day for the audience, the winner is the audience as they get to see two good films," he added.