By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

In case you're wondering why Bollywood's current heartthrob John Abraham has been so low-profile lately, the fact is he has been learning the guitar for his role in Imtiaz Ali's film "Rock Star".

So, when you see him take to the stage as a long-haired rock musician you know John won't be faking it.

"Yes I'm going to get those strings right. No point in strumming senselessly. Nowadays the audience has got very wise. They can tell when an actor is faking it. In fact, I learnt to play the flute for my role in 'Water'," John told IANS.

"At this rate I could become a one-man band. But I didn't have to learn to play ride the bike for 'Dhoom'. Seriously, role ke bahaane it's good fun to expand your horizons. I don't want to be an actor just to look good and wear trendy clothes on screen. I want to go deeper into my characters. It's great fun to prepare for a role."

Deepa Mehta, who directed John in "Water" which is Canada's official entry for Oscars, said he gave his best to her film.

"John shocked me with his preparedness. Whether it was getting into a dhoti or playing the flute or getting the body language of his character right, John put his soul into 'Water'. We've become really close friends. I'm looking forward to working with him again in 'Exclusion'."

John smiled at Mehta's compliments and said: "By the grace of god, I've plenty of prolific work on my plate. I love the family of directors I'm working with - Deepa, Sriram Raghavan ('Happy Birthday'), Nagesh Kukunoor ('Ashayen'), Imtiaz Ali ('Rock Star'), Anurag Kashyap ('No Smoking').

"If you listen to the scripts you would wonder why I'm doing such unusual films when I could be doing hardcore commercial cinema. It's because I want to grow as an actor."

Incidentally, Saif Ali Khan is the other actor in Bollywood who plays the guitar. Maybe the two actors can jam together?

"Why not?" laughed John!