In the tale of friendship and terrorism by director Kabir Khan, John has done a complete nude shot for a prison scene.
John would be the third Bollywood actor in recent times to drop all his inhibitions. Earlier, Kunal Kapoor in "Rang De Basanti" and Ranbir Kapoor in "Saawariya" did bare-back scenes that were deleted when the films opened.
But John's nude scene is set to remain in "New York", which is slated for a January release.
Said a source close to the project: "It's a prison sequence in the US where John, who is suspected to be a terrorist, is denuded of all dignity. This is how they break your spirit in an American prison when they want you to confess to being a terrorist.
"They make you eat, sleep, urinate and defecate in the same room. Then they begin to strip your dignity down... until you are left in the cold, dingy cell completely naked. John had to enact this sequence."
When briefed about the sequence, John apparently didn't hesitate for a second.
"He immediately agreed to do the scene and was quite traumatised at the end of it, " the source added.
While John refused to comment on the scene, director Kabir Khan smiled and said: "You'll just have to see the film to know the nature of the scene."