Abhishek Bachchan says John Abraham taught him how to ride a bike before Dhoom: 'Parents never allowed me to ride'

Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham starred in the 2004 action-thriller Dhoom. Bikes were a huge part of the movie, which starred Abhishek as a cop Jai Dixit, and John as a gang leader Kabir Sharma.

Abhishek Bachchan has recalled that it was John Abraham who taught him how to ride a bike. The actor said that his parents, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, did not let him ride a bike due to safety concerns. However, he had to learn it from John when they starred in the 2004 action-thriller Dhoom.

Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham in stills from the 2004 action-thriller Dhoom.

Bikes were a huge part of the movie, which starred Abhishek as a cop Jai Dixit, and John Abraham as a gang leader Kabir Sharma. As the film required many scenes and stunts on bikes, the cast was required to learn it before the filming. Abhishek recalled that Uday Chopra, who played a bike racer turned police officer in the film, went to England to train with some professional stunt riders. Meanwhile, John took the responsibility of teaching him how to ride.

Abhishek told Mashable India, "I didn't know how to ride a bike. I'd ridden a bike in a film right before that but they put me on a trolley and take it. My mother and my father never allowed me to ride because they were scared. During the shooting, John taught me how to ride. John used to ride with me and teach me. He was unbelievable. He used to live in Bandra, he would ride all the way back to Juhu with me. He said 'baba, just remember. You have to be very responsible.' He is Parsi so he knew how to disassemble the bike and said 'this (chassis) is what you are riding on.' He was so safe and he taught me everything and I was so confident after that."

Abhishek recalled that John also used to encourage him with chocolates when he would perform well in the scenes involving bikes while they were shooting for the second part of the film in Goa. He recalled, "The first night at the hotel his valet came to us and offered us chocolates. And we felt ki yaar, 'kya banda hai yaar John, so sweet.' He was like 'you did a good job today.' The next day also he was like 'baba great job, baba fantastic,' and same chocolates. I'm like 'dude he is slowly becoming my favourite person.' By the end of the schedule, I had put on 7 kg. I said now I realised what he was doing. He gave us chocolates and himself was in the gym."

Abhishek and John, who have also worked together in the 2008 film Dostana, are close friends. Abhishek said that they both fondly refer to each other as 'baba.' Abhishek's latest film Dasvi, a social comedy, was released on Netflix and Jio Cinema on April 7. John was last seen in Attack, an action thriller co-produced by him, which was released on April 1.