After bike and car, John Abraham is ready to lift truck

May the Force be with you, went the iconic line from Star Wars. And it sure is with John Abraham, who is set to return with the second instalment of the Force franchise.

The 2011 action thriller has a new director, new heroine, new script and new villain. Delhi Belly (2011) director Abhinay Deo replaces Nishikanth Kamat, while Sonakshi Sinha joins the franchise for her second successive action role.

"We didn't want to do a sequel for the sake of it," said producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah. "We wanted a good script. Abhinay Deo and writers Parveez Sheikh and Jasmeet spent a long time on research and finally we homed in on what we felt was a good script, You will find things in the film which are inspired by true incidents."

With the tagline, 'A dead soldier is a martyr, a dead spy is a traitor', there is an element of intrigue around Force 2. Bhasin plays Shiv, who is bent upon killing RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) secret agents.

"We wanted a bigger, better, larger-than-life antagonist, one who is far more evolved. I'd seen Tahir in Mardaani. So I knew he was someone who could add so much value to the film," said John about Bhasin.

On why he chose to do Force 2, Bhasin said, "After Mardaani, I wanted to do a film that upped everything – from script to character. An actor's performance depends a lot on how he is treated on the sets. Luckily, everyone on Force 2 made me feel comfortable, I felt as though I wasn’t doing my second but my 25th film."

Sonakshi Sinha said Force 2 was just an extension from Akira for her. The only difference here is that the actress plays a RAW agent. "I was matching John step for step. John would be laughing most of the time, but he was appreciative of my stunts.”

Deo made his début in 2011 with Game and followed it up with the successful Delhi Belly (2011). Like Force, Deo, too, has taken five years to return. Asked if the delay was a result of still carrying the Delhi belly, the filmmaker laughed and said, "Well, one shouldn't attach the time factor to any film project. I went through 47-48 scripts before deciding to take up Force 2. Reading 47-48 scripts does take time."

The hallmark of Force was John Abraham's stunning action scene in which he lifts a bike above his shoulders. Force 2 has John lifting a car. The actor also had his share of injuries, and even underwent knee surgery while shooting for the film.

With the second film taking five years to appear after the first, if the trend continues, one might see Force 3 in 2021, when John will be pushing 50. So, will the body hold to pull off such stunts? “Look, if you ask me, probably next time I might lift a truck, or I may lift the entire theatre,” John laughed.

Well, may the Force be with you, John. Force 2 is scheduled to be released on 18 November 2016.