Bollywood actor John Abraham, who made his debut in 2003 with ‘Jism,’ feels his forthcoming film ‘Force’ will get him recognition in the genre of hardcore action. He also revealed that Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone has been his inspiration for years as far as fitness is concerned.

The actor, who was last seen in ‘7 Khoon Maaf,’ told reporters that ‘Force’ is a deliberate and intentional attempt to make his place in the action hero category. "I had not attempted any action film after ‘Dhoom’ - so my audience, my fans were a little disappointed with me-because I was not doing any action films. Quite a few people pointed out to me at many occasions that you have the physique, you have the strength then why don`t you attempt a hard core action film- so I thought I should go for it. And post this film I think people will find me in the action hero slot and find John Abraham as an action hero," John said.

The brand ambassador of Van Heusen`s premium brand VDOT, John was here to launch the company`s flagship store. The 38-year-old admits he had to work under strict guidelines of the director and also took special training for his role. "I had to take special training for this film. When we had finalised the film, the director Nishikanth Kamath had said very clearly to me that you have only eight months and I want a body that looks international. It should look like a machine. You should look like Sylvester Stallone physically," he said.

"I also lifted a bike... it was nearly 110-120 kgs. It was a requirement for one of the scenes where my character had to lift a bike and then throw it. So yeah, I have thrown a bike." Asked about his admiration for Stallone, he said: "Stallone has been an inspiration for me from the time I was in school - when `Rocky 4` came out. That is when I had found inspiration from him to be fit like him and to have a body like him. So from that point of view he has been an inspiration."

John also pointed out that he was sceptical before signing for ‘Force,’ which is a remake of Gautham Menon`s 2003 Tamil film, ‘Kaakha Kaakha.’ "(Producer) Vipul Shah showed me the original one-and-a-half years ago. I had my doubts over this film. I was confused whether I should do this film or not, but after I watched the film, I really loved it and that is when I made up my mind that I should do this film," he said.

Asked about his role John explained: "The character of Yash that I am playing in the film is very similar to the original script. He is an anti-drug officer and personally also I don`t believe in drugs. The people who are into drugs I think are escapists." "I would really want our youth to understand - that due to peer pressure, people do get misled - forget smoking and drinking, the dangerous of all is to get into drugs like cocaine, heroin. It just destroys your body completely and this is the message that we are trying to give from the film." "It is a commercial film but the message is very serious - I would urge people to not fall into this habit. Our body is our temple. Do not destroy it," he said.