His body is many guys' envy and many girls' eye candy. But in a strange turn of events, the tables turned when men here shrieked till they were hoarse for Bollywood actor John Abraham to strip off his T-shirt for them.

Call it the star appeal or the post-"Dostana" effect, men - young and middle-aged - burnt the torrid atmosphere with their cries for the 36-year-old at the Diet Pepsi 'Go Play John + You' mass work-out session at Ansal Plaza, Khelgaon Marg, here Sunday evening.

Shouting "We want John, we want John" before the star was to make an appearance on the stage, the male lot completely subdued the low-pitched voices of the fairer sex with repetitive chants of "T-shirt, T-shirt" that reverberated the open-air auditorium. They wanted the actor to peel off.

"Come on dude, hit it (T-shirt)...you got to take it out today and beat Salman (Khan) off his birthright, " shouted Saurabh Kejriwal, a student from Amity University in Noida.

Ashish Damani, a 24-year-old businessman, echoed the same but with a different purpose.

"Do it for my girl John, please...she worships you, " he cried in disappointment.

However, the "Jism" star did not. But he obliged the masses by giving away complimentary T-shirts.

"See, that (flaunting his body) was in a movie. Otherwise I am very very shy...Well, if I take-off my T-shirt, then what will I wear, " quipped the actor, clad in a body hugging white T-shirt and trousers and earthy summer coolers on the foot.

John, who is the first Indian brand ambassador of Diet Pepsi, also unveiled the soft drinks' slim can in the consumer launch set-up.

As the people worked out, a total of 265, 000 calories was burnt during the event. An equivalent amount of rupees was announced to be given to non-profit organisation Conserve to create environmental awareness among the youth.