John Abraham, whose forthcoming film Aashayein directed by Nagesh Kukunoor is set to release on June 20, will be seen playing Rahul Sharma, a compulsive gambler who loses everything that he treasures in life. Subsequently, he goes through an emotionally draining patch and gets detached from life.

John had to sport a very healthy look at the start of the film and was asked by Nagesh to lose weight gradually as it progressed. John took up the challenge to lose at least 12 kilos to develop a lean look, an insider revealed.  “John took up rigorous exercise regimes and maintained a diet chart that could help him achieve his target fast. He also spoke to a couple of renowned dieticians. However, it was difficult for him to lose weight as he didn’t have too much fat in his body,” the insider said.

John, who was shooting at the outskirts of Pondicherry, then requested Nagesh to help him get some equipment to the location and set up his own gym at the hotel, the insider disclosed, adding, “He used to work-out for about four hours everyday in the beginning and ate only salads, greens, sprouts and chicken. After a four-hour schedule, John would be completely fagged out and ready to collapse.”

Eventually, John managed to lose about 12 kilos in just two months. After a certain point Nagesh used to get scared looking at him.

That’s when Nagesh asked John to take his role lightly and reminded him that Aashayein was only a film and he didn’t want him to go beyond a point for it. John confirms this news, “Actually, when I set out to lose weight for my character I didn’t know that eventually I would end up losing more than 16 kilos instead of 12.” He added, “It was one of the toughest phases of my life personally too. Today I can empathise a lot with people who want to lose weight as it is not an easy task.”