Batla House: John Abraham says he was 'blown away' reading the script, here's what he googled immediately after

Bollywood actor John Abraham's upcoming controversial cop drama 'Batla House' is all set to hit the theaters. The action thriller film which is inspired by the Operation Batla House that took place in 2008, stars John Abraham in the lead role as police officer Sanjeev Kumar Yadav. It showcases the hardships of the 7 member team of Delhi Police had to go through to justify their action, after they were dragged into controversy owing to an encounter with terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi.

Ahead of the release of the film, John Abraham, during an exclusive interview with Republic Media Network, opened up about a number of his 'firsts' while making the film. When asked what was his first reaction to the film, he said that he was 'blown away' reading the script for the film for the first time.

"I was just blown away. It was the most intriguing, engaging script and I wanted to do it" the actor said.

READ | 'Batla House': John Abraham Speaks To Arnab Goswami, Watch Him Explain How The 2008 Encounter Plays Out In The Film

He further revealed that he was taken to a surprise reading the script, and was very happy to do it with the director.

When asked about what was the first thing he googled after reading the script, he said, "I knew a bit about Batla House but when you read about Batla House in Google, it reads out like a film and that was so interesting."

 Further talking about the film, director Nikkhil Advani said that the idea came in Riteish Shah's mind, who has penned down the script of the film.

"He worked on the script for a year and a half before he came to me, he had done a lot of research already. So, he is the one who chose me as a director of the film. Before that, I had a very little idea about what Batla House was." the director said.

'Batla House' to release on Independence Day

Directed by Nikkhil Advani and produced by Bhushan Kumar, the film is scheduled to release theatrically on August 15, 2019. Besides John, the film also stars Divya Khosla Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, and Krishan Kumar in the lead.

READ | HC Nod To Release Of Film Batla House On Independence Day With Certain Changes

Brief on the Batla House encounter case: 

Operation Batla House, that took place on 19 September 2008 was a gun encounter between Delhi Police and Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi. As per media reports, following the five serial blasts in Delhi on 13 September 2008, a team of 7 Delhi Police personals led by inspector Mohan Chand Sharma raided the location in connection with the bomb blasts. Two suspected terrorists, Atif Ameen, and Mohammad Sajid were killed during the encounter while two other suspects, Mohammad Saif and Zeeshan, were taken into custody. One accused Ariz Khan managed to escape, however, he was later arrested from the Indo-China border.

The investigation following the encounter led to arrest of a number of local people, leading to widespread allegations and protests by political parties, civil society groups, activists, especially teachers and students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University.