Mumbai, Mar 2 (IANS): John Abraham says he has worked hard to get into the character of Manya Surve, the gangster who was shot dead by Mumbai police in 1982, for the movie "Shootout At Wadala", inspired by the real life incident.

"I can honestly say that I have put in every kind of effort to study this character, to work on the way he supposedly behaved. In fact, me and Sanjay (Gupta) went and met the people who knew him to find out how Manya Surve behaved and the way he spoke," the 39-year-old said here at an event.

"There was talk of me learning Marathi for this, but the idea was to understand the colloquial nature of the language... so that you understand how Manya Surve was in everyday life. So, as an actor I have really given all my effort and worked really hard to do maximum research towards this film," he added.

Though John plays the central character in the film, he does not feel burdened with the extra responsibility to promote it.

"I am relieved. Every film requires promotion and what I feel is what Ekta (Kapoor) and Sanjay (Gupta) have done here, is actually a boon for all of us. So I have been given an opportunity to have a platform to show what each one of us can do out here.

"I don't feel it's a crunch, I think it's a great opportunity and I am going to grasp it with both my hands. So, I am very excited," said John who was last seen in "Desi Boyz".

Directed by Sanjay Gupta, "Shootout at Wadala" also features Anil Kapoor, Kangna Ranaut, Sanjay Dutt, Tusshar Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ronit Roy and Manoj Bajpai.