John Abraham was born in Mumbai, India on December 17, 1972. His real name is Farhan but his father gave him the name 'John', and he has used that name ever since. He has one younger brother, Alan. Being a Catholic, John's father added the name 'Abraham' to his son's name as a mark of respect to the first patriarch and progenitor of the Hebrew people in the Bible. Abraham's father is a Marthomite Christian architect, from Alwaye, Kerala in India. His mother Phiroza Irani is part of Bombay's Parsi community. Parsis are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who migrated to Gujarat and Mumbai, Maharashtra in the late 19th and early 20th century. John always describes himself as Malyalee and he like to be as a Keralite.

Career

Abraham started his career with a media firm called Time & Space Media Entertainment Promotions Ltd., which however closed down due to financial problems. Later he worked for Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner.

Abraham's name gave him a noted stand when he entered the modeling field. His unconventional looks, good height (approx. 6' 1"), macho physique, charismatic smiles and personable characters made him one of the highest paid supermodels in India. In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to Singapore for Manhunt International, where he won second place. Later on, he went on to win the contest. Following this, he appeared in a number of commercial advertisements. To further hone his acting skills, John Abraham joined Kishore Namit Kapoor acting lab and successfully completed a course on acting while juggling modelling assignments.

Being a hot star in the modeling world, he made his film debut in 2003. Not like usual Bollywood heroes who debut in male oriented action subjects, he accepted the erotic, emotional and controversial Jism (2003). The film did well, and his work was noticed widely. Later the same year came the paranormal Saaya (2003) and romantic Paap (2003); neither did well at box-office. John's first blockbuster smash hit came in 2004 when he took the villain role 'Kabir' in Dhoom (2004).

He has appeared in a number of successful movies since then which include, Kaal (2005) , Garam Masala (2005) and Taxi No 9211 (2006). In 2005, John ignored the threats from some Hindu fundamentalists and agreed to play the lead role in the controversial film Water, which protrays the tragic fate of Hindu widows in the pre independence India. The film was written and directed by independent Canadian film-maker Deepa Mehta. It had a rocky history; a first attempt to film it floundered, when set in Varanasi were burned by an angry crowd. John signed for the director's second attempt to make the film, this time in Sri Lanka. The film has been popular overseas, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Oscar Award, further exposing John to a worldwide audience.

His recently released films: Baabul (2006), Kabul Express (2006), Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love (2007) were critically acclaimed and were averagely received at the Box Office. He is rumored to star in the 2009 film adaption of the video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. John is to feature as an environmentalist activist in Deepa Mehta's new film Luna starring Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz And Chris Cooper(under production as of February 2008).

Apart from his movie commitments, John is also the brand ambassador for Castrol Power 1 - a high-end performance lubricant for two-wheelers, manufactured by Castrol India Limited. Being a known biking enthusiast, he is also the brand ambassador for the Yamaha marque.