For those who are not aware of John Abraham's genealogy, the Batla House star has big connection to Kerala. His father, Abraham John, is a Christian Malayali (his mother is a Parsi), though John has been born and brought up in Mumbai. We really don't know how closely connected is John to his father's native place. But recently, there came an opportunity for John to show his understanding of the state, and the actor got full marks in how he managed to explain what makes Kerala special. John Abraham's Big Gesture for Sidharth Malhotra; Prepones Pagalpanti To Give Marjaavaan A Solo Release.

The opportunity came recently on September 26, during the book launch of The God Who Loved Motorbikes, by Murali K Menon, a Malayali himself. During the event, John was asked by a journalist as to why Kerala has not been 'Modi'fied like the rest of the country. What she meant to ask, was why the state has not managed to come under the PM Narendra Modi wave like the rest of the country. If you remember, BJP didn't win a single seat there in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

In reply, John said (as quoted by The Quint), "That’s the beauty about Kerala. You can see a temple, a mosque and a church within 10 metres of each other peacefully co-existing without any problem whatsoever. There’s absolutely no issue there. With the entire world getting very polarised, Kerala is an example of a place where religions and communities can co-exist so peacefully." #SaveAarey: After Shraddha Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Raveena Tandon, Actor John Abraham Joins The Fight To Keep The Forest Land Safe! (Watch Video).

While that was a brilliant answer, did John also hint that he is not really in favour of the idea of 'Modi'fication with his statement?

Watch the video below:

John also added that Kerala has another extreme in how strong the Communist leanings are in the state. Sharing a personal experience, he continued, "The other extreme, I remember when Fidel Castro passed away, I went to Kerala and that was the only state with his posters and hoardings all over to mourn his death. So Kerala is really communist in that way. My father made me read a lot of Marxist material. So there is a communist side in a lot of ‘mallus’. We all believe in equitable living, equal distribution of wealth and Kerala is a shining example of that."

Interestingly, after Akshay Kumar, John Abraham has often been accused of relying on nationalism to sell his movies. His films like Parmanu, Satyameva Jayate, Romeo Akbar Walter and the recent Batla House are shining examples of that. While Akshay has openly shown his leniency towards the ruling BJP party, John's surprising response will make you rethink his stand in the current political milieu.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2019 09:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).