The Diplomat star John Abraham says Steven Spielberg, Charlize Theron loved his performance in Water: 'No one here even saw it for a...'

John Abraham, who is currently gearing up for the release of The Diplomat, revealed that he garnered praises from Hollywood legends like Steven Spielberg and Charlize Theron for his performance in Deepa Mehta’s Water, on the contrary, no one even saw that film in India.

The Indo-Canadian was Canada’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 79th Academy Awards, where it got nominated but didn’t win. Recalling the time when he went at the Oscars along with leads Lisa Ray and Seena Biswas, John told BookMyShow’s YouTube channel, “When I went to the awards, I had the honour of meeting Steven Spielberg, and he loved my performance in Water, whereas no one here even saw it for a day. I remember Charlize Theron talking to me and saying that. I loved what you were processing, but no one here talked about that.”

Set in 1938, Water narrates the lives of widows in Varanasi. The screenplay of the film was written by Anurag Kashyap and it also featured Sarala Kariyawasam, Manorama, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav and Vinay Pathak in prominent roles.

Meanwhile, John’s The Diplomat will hit the screens tomorrow. The film has been garnering rave reviews from the experts. Firstpost has given the film 3.5 stars and wrote, “Through the film we get to know how Uzma Ahmad was rescued because of the hugely brave efforts of the staff of the Indian Embassy, Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh (John Abraham) and the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (Revathy). We also get to know how the situation got tensed up because of Kulbhushan Jadhav case and how it affected the Indo-Pak relationship. Not just the storytelling and the performances by all the actors; it’s a beautifully shot film with very fine camera work. The Diplomat is indeed an incredibly riveting cinema and a must-watch.”