Happy Birthday John Abraham: A peep at the actor's journey in Bollywood

Good looks, dimpled smile and washboard abs that make women go weak in the knees. John Abraham is not just a pretty face, the model-turned-actor is known for his fitness regime from Jism to Satyamev Jayate, John has come a long way in Bollywood.

After cementing his position as an action hero in movies like ‘Dhoom’, ‘Madras Cafe’, ‘Force’, ‘Parmanu’, John now wants to work on bigger and better action films, starting with 'Force 3', which he wants to develop as the country's biggest action franchise.

As the handsome superstar turns a year older, we look at his journey to stardom.

Also watch | 'Attack' teaser: John Abraham is a 'super soldier' saves the nation in this action drama

John Abraham's early years

Born and brought up in Mumbai, John Abraham grew up in a middle-class family. His father is a Syrian Christian from Kerala, and his mother is a Zoroastrian Parsi. Not many are aware that his Zoroastrian name is 'Farhan', but he was baptised with the name 'John'.
John studied at Bombay Scottish School, in Mumbai's Mahim. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and then went on to pursue an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
After college, he decided to try his luck as a model and entered the Gladrags Manhunt contest in 1999. He ended up as the first runner-up and there was no looking back.
From magazine covers in the 90s to advertisements, work started flowing in. John got signed by a Singapore based talent agency and did a fair amount of work in Hong Kong, London, and New York.

Also watch | John Abraham forays into Malayalam cinema as producer, first look of 'Mike' out

John's big Bollywood break
After modelling for years, John Abraham made his Bollywood debut with Pooja Bhatt's film 'Jism' in 2003. The film turned out to be a big Box Office hit and John won the IFFA award for the Best Male Debutant Star.
In 2004, John played the bad boy with the good looks, in 'Dhoom' which also won him many awards. Unanimated, self-aware, and modest even in victory, John Abraham as an anti-hero was unlike anything we had seen before.

John Abraham's tryst with love
John Abraham dated fellow model and actress Bipasha Basu for nine years, before the couple called it quits in 2011.
He later tied the knot with his girlfriend, Priya Runchal, an investment banker, in 2014 after dating for three years. The actor has kept his personal life pretty private and we are happy for him.

John's unusual slate of films
John Abraham has had an unusual slate of films in his 18-year Bollywood career. Be it Deepa Mehta's controversial film 'Water', where he played an upper-caste man in love with a widow
or slapstick comedies like 'Garam Masala' or 'Desi Boyz', where he played hunky eye candy roles.
Finally came, 'Dostana' in 2008, a comedy which tried to normalise same sex relationships.
His last release was 'Satyameva Jayate 2', a cop drama directed by Milap Zaveri.

John Abraham as a producer
John Abraham forayed into production, daring to be different in a cliched industry. 'Vicky Donor' starring Ayushmaan Khurrana, was his first production, which won him the National Award for Best Popular Film.
John bankrolled many movies like 'Rocky Handsome', 'Force 2', 'Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran', 'Batla House', 'Sardar Ka Grandson'.
He is now venturing into Malayalam cinema with 'Mike' which is a coming-of-age story.

Attack to Pathan: John's upcoming projects
John may be low key as an actor and not competing in the 100-crore club yet, but he is here to stay.
The actor will next be seen in action thriller ‘Attack’ which also stars Jacqueline Fernandez.
John has also wrapped up the shoot for Mohit Suri's film 'Ek Villain Returns' starring Arjun Kapoor, Disha Patani, and Tara Sutaria.

But we've kept the best for last! For the first time ever on screen, fans will get to see John on screen with Shah Rukh Khan in upcoming spy thriller 'Pathan' which also stars Deepika Padukone.
Here's wishing John Abraham a very happy birthday!