/> Under normal circumstances real-life couples tend to stay as far away on screen from each other as possible. Shahid Kapoor and Kareena won't be signing any more films together after the failure of Fida and Chup Chup Ke.

After the fiasco Madhosh two years ago John and Bipasha had decided not to work together again for a while.

Explaining his decision to come together with her again in Vivek Agnihotri's Goal John says, " Bipasha and I just didn't have the opportunity to come together. What was being offered wasn't tempting.

Both Bipasha and I feel Goal works as a whole. It works for both of us as a whole. Besides I've played A-division soccer, I captained my football team in school and college. Soccer is in my blood, just like bikes."

So which one does John prefer? "Soccer was a favourite in school. Bike now. I never rode bikes in school, so football was my passion then. Doing Goal is like catching up with my past. Bipasha and I are shooting it in a three-month schedule in London."

John finished Anurag Kashyap's No Smoking in mid-Jan. "Then I took a small break and went into Goal. I didn't need to practice too hard on my soccer. So I was chilled in London, in more ways than one."

As for the resurgence of sports films, John is all for it. "It feels great to have sports films. If after watching Shah Rukh Khan in Shimit Amin's Chak De girls start playing hockey and if after watching me in Goal kids take up football, then great! Cricket brings out the passionate patriot in all Indians, why not soccer?"

As a youth icon John takes his responsibilities very seriously. "As an actor it's important for me to be a very good role model. Whenever I consider an offer this responsibility is always in the back of my mind."

But what about the villain in Dhoom and the smoker in No Smoking? "Oh those won't send out the wrong signal. When people see the larger picture in No Smoking they won't imitate my smoking. My character goes through so many upheavals.

And Anurag Kashyap is so confident about every shot. No Smoking is different from every film I've done. I didn't mind working for 18-20 hours at a stretch because it feels like family."

Interestingly John used to be a smoker. "I quit. Then I took up smoking for No Smoking. But I'm strong enough to not become a smoker. If anything happens to me we'll all go to hospital together. Everyone on the sets smokes quietly. Since it's banned on the sets, we sneak into a corner collectively for a smoke."

John is happy with his roles in life. " I'm happy with my clothes brand, calendar and my movies. I want the brand John Abraham to outlive the man. It's important for me to build a brand name for myself."