Under normal circumstances real-life couples tend to stay away on screen from each other. But going against the norm John Abraham decided to work with girlfriend Bipasha Basu in "Goal".

Vivek Agnihotri is directing the film.

Explaining his decision to act with Bipasha again, John told: "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.

"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 sport does John prefer now?

"Soccer was a favourite in school. Bikes 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."

After finishing Anurag Kashyap's "No Smoking" in mid-January John took a small break.

"I took a small break and then 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 India' 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 chain-smoker in "No Smoking"?

"My role in 'No Smoking' won't send out the wrong signal. When people will see the larger picture, they won't imitate my smoking. My character goes through so many upheavals in the film.

"And Anurag 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. Everyone on the sets smoked quietly. Since it's banned on the sets, we used to sneak into a corner collectively for a smoke."

The actor, who is multitasking, 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."

Meanwhile, another star couple, Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor, haven't signed any more films together after the failure of "Fida" and "Chup Chup Ke". They just have "Milenge Milenge", which they signed long back.