A viral meme has dragged John Abraham into a controversy he never created. Social media posts have circulated a quote claiming the actor criticised Dhurandhar and said he would never produce films like it. The problem is clear: there is no public record of John making that statement.
The quote being shared online claims John said films like Dhurandhar and The Kashmir Files could lead people in the wrong direction and should not be celebrated. That line has now been reposted so widely that many users took it at face value. But the remark about Dhurandhar is fabricated.
How An Old Interview Was Twisted Into A New Claim
There is no verified interview, public event clip, social media post, or video in which John Abraham spoke against Dhurandhar. A review of publicly available coverage shows no authenticated instance of him addressing the franchise at all. That makes the viral meme false.
The confusion grew after John’s genuine comments from an older interview were pulled back into circulation without context. In his conversation with Rajdeep Sardesai on India Today last year, John had spoken about his discomfort with making films such as The Kashmir Files and Chhaava.
During an interview with India Today, when asked about his reaction about these films, John says, “We need censorship, but the way it has been overseen… It’s a bit of a question mark. They have been good with us, but I have also been responsible for the way I have made my films. I am not right or left wing. I am apolitical. What is worrying to me is that right-wing films find a huge audience, and that’s when you ask yourself as a filmmaker, what line will you toe-am I going to take the commercial line or stay true to what I want to say? I have chosen the latter.”
When he was asked if he would make such films, John says, “I haven’t seen Chhaava, but I know that people have loved it-and also The Kashmir Files. But when films are made with the intent to sway people in a hyper-political environment and such films find an audience, that is scary for me. To answer your question, no, I have never been tempted, and I will never make those kinds of films.”
That is the distinction at the heart of this controversy. John did make comments about The Kashmir Files and Chhaava. He did not make any comment about Dhurandhar. The viral post blended an old, real controversy with a fresh, false attribution.
The timing also matters. These words were never part of any documented conversation around Dhurandhar itself. They resurfaced through meme pages and repost chains, not through a primary source linked to the actor.
John Abraham’s Recent And Upcoming Work
That false quote also gained traction because John’s screen image has long been tied to intense, politically charged, and action-driven storytelling, making the fabricated line sound believable to casual users scrolling quickly online.
His recent filmography reflects that space clearly. Vedaa, directed by Nikkhil Advani and co-starring Sharvari and Tamannaah Bhatia, released in theatres on August 15, 2024. Despite its high-profile setup, the film underperformed and collected ₹20.25 crore net in India. He followed that with The Diplomat, directed by Shivam Nair and co-starring Sadia Khateeb, which released on March 14, 2025 and performed better at the domestic box office with ₹40.30 crore net in India.
John also headlined Tehran, a spy thriller directed by Arun Gopalan and co-starring Manushi Chhillar and Neeru Bajwa. It premiered on ZEE5 on August 14, 2025 and later streamed on Netflix. As of April 2026, Force 3 remains one of his confirmed upcoming theatrical projects, keeping him firmly in the action space that audiences most closely associate with him.
That context is exactly why the fake Dhurandhar quote travelled so fast. It borrowed the tone of a real John Abraham debate, attached it to a film he never discussed, and turned recycled outrage into a brand new misinformation cycle.
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