When actor Jeetendra boosted John's confidence

John Abraham's next is crime thriller "Shootout At Wadala", a genre not so popular among women. But yesteryear actor Jeetendra feels it will appeal to the fairer sex and his encouraging words have boosted the actor's confidence.

Directed by Sanjay Gupta, "Shootout At Wadala" is based on the real-life encounter (shootout) killing of gangster Manya Surve. In the film, John plays Manya's character.

"Jeetuji (Jeetendra) saw the film yesterday (Sunday) and said, 'I was thinking that women may not like the film but my wife Shobha has liked it'. I think that's the biggest encouragement," the 41-year-old said here Monday at a special screening of the film.

"Shootout At Wadala" has been co-produced by Sanjay Gupta and Jeetendra's daughter Ekta Kapoor.

A prequel to 2007 crime thriller "Shootout At Lokhandwala", the film is based on Hussain Zaidi's book "Dongri To Dubai".

"Shootout At Wadala" also features Sonu Sood, Anil Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Manoj Bajpayee, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ronit Roy and Kangna Ranaut, among others. The film hits theatres May 3.