John Abraham is currently promoting his film The Diplomat, which is scheduled for a release in theatres tomorrow. John Abraham has been working in the industry for 20 years but he’s often criticised for his acting skills. During a recent chat with BookMyShow’s YouTube channel, John Abraham revealed that Steven Spielberg complimented his acting in Deepa Mehta’s Water at the Oscars 2006. 

Deepa Mehta’s film received a nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2006. Though the film didn’t win the award, John Abraham received his biggest compliment of career over there.

“When I went to the awards, I had the honour of meeting Steven Spielberg, and he loved my performance in Water, whereas no one here even saw it for a day,” recalled John Abraham. He also mentioned his conversation with Hollywood actor Charlize Theron and shared, “I remember Charlize Theron talking to me and saying that. I loved what you were processing, but no one here talked about that.”

In an earlier chat with Filmfare, John shared that Steven gave him an important lesson. “I remember Steven Spielberg’s words when I had attended the Academy Awards during Water. He said, ‘Remember, there are no good and bad actors. There are good and bad films’,” he shared.

Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas and Waheeda Rehman headlined Water along with John Abraham. Water, is a heartwrenching tale of rural Indian widows in the 1940s and it covers controversial subjects such as child marriage, misogyny and ostracism. 

Speaking of The Diplomat, it has been directed by Shivam Nair. The film stars John Abraham as J.P Singh in Islamabad.