John Abraham to launch Imtiaz Ali’s brother

Sajid Ali to make directorial debut with Abraham’s production house; the film will go on the floors next year

As a producer, he gave newcomers Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam a dream launch in Vicky Donor this year. Now, actor-producer John Abraham is set to introduce another young talent to the industry. The brawny actor has roped in director Imtiaz Ali’s brother Sajid for his yet-untitled film, to be produced by his company (JA Entertainment).

John-Abraham

“The film will go on the floors next year. Set in Jamshedpur, it deals with issues adolescents face. It is a youth-centric film,” says an insider close to the production house, adding, “John and Sheel (Kumar, co-producer) recently attended a script narration together and were floored by the storyline.” When contacted, John confirms the news, saying, “We have immense faith in Sajid’s script. We are confident it has the potential to surpass Vicky Donor. We will back him completely.”

However, the film won’t star John. “We will see new faces and they will be cast over the next few months. Sajid is already travelling to places around Jamshedpur and Kolkata to find the right actors. Jogi (casting director) will rope in these actors,” adds the insider.

A Jai Hind College graduate, Sajid pursued a course in filmmaking in London. In 2005, the 28-year-old was supposed to star in the Anurag Kashyap-produced Udaan (2010), but the project didn’t take off then. However, he made his debut as a writer with the Saif Ali Khan-Deepika Padukone
starrer Cocktail.