Known for his histrionics when it comes to several dramatic roles that he has done during last four decades gone by, 63 year old Naseeruddin Shah has seldom stepped into the action zone. Well, at least in his recent outings. However it was a different ballgame altogether for 'John Day' where he didn't just participate in quite a few action sequences but was also required to run for five nights at stretch.

"When writer-director Ahishor Solomon first spoke to Naseer saab about 'John Day', he was sceptical. He knew from the very beginning that this would be a very tiring film for him. Though he is a very active person and is into sports and yoga, a gruelling shoot like this seemed a little taxing for him. He was doubtful whether he would be able to do justice to the film," informs a source.

However it was the script of 'John Day', which features Randeep Hooda as the antagonist, that was reason good enough for him to give it as rethinking.

"He knew it would be very exhausting but then was convinced by the director and producers Anjum Rizvi, K. Asif and Aatef A Khan that they would keep the shoot as quick and comfortable as possible," the source adds, "It was decided that the night shoot which required him to run around would be completed in a single stretch of five days so that it would be a relatively comfortable outing for the remainder of the shoot."

When contacted, Anjum Rizvi - who has worked with Naseeruddin Shah on 'A Wednesday', confirmed, "Well, he did eventually went out of the way and gave his best. It was amazing to see him so fit and agile. He ran continuously for five nights at stretch and also did a lot of action. He refused help of any body double or duplicate; he did everything himself. This is the reason why he is THE Naseeruddin Shah."