John Abraham, 40 and fabulous

From Bollywood beefcake to one of its most popular actors and producers, John Abraham has come a long way from his days on the catwalk as a fashion model.

As he turns 40 and is all set to play the bad guy in his upcoming film Race 2, here is a look at the actor's journey so far.

John Abraham was born in Mumbai on December 17, 1972 to a Malayali father and a Parsi mother. John's Parsi name is Farhan. He, and younger brother Alan, went to the Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai. John also took an MBA from the Mumbai Educational Trust.

John began his career as a media planner before making it big as a model. He won the Gladrags Manhunt in 1999 and went on to become the first runner up at the Manhunt International in Philippines.

After his win, John made it big in the modelling circuit. He was signed up by Carrie Models in Singapore and worked in Hong Kong, London and New York. He also appeared in music videos for singers Pankaj Udhas, Hans Raj Hans and Babul Supriyo. In between his modelling assignments, he took acting classes from Kishore Namit Kapoor.

In 2003, John got his first Bollywood break. He debuted in a steamy thriller Jism which was moderately successful but garnered critical praise for him. His film career was looking up, as was his personal life with a full blown romance with his Jism co-star Bipasha Basu since 2002. The relationship went on for nine years before they broke up in 2011.

John and Bipasha were the 'it' couple of their time and regularly made it to the stylish couple lists.

Bipasha was not the first Bengali bombshell in John's life. Before the couple hooked up, John dated starlet Riya Sen and reportedly wanted to get hitched. But Riya turned him down to concentrate on her film career.

John Abraham was also rumoured to be dating actress Tara Sharma, just before the release of their movie Saaya (2003). Their rumoured liaison was later said to be a publicity stunt for the film.

Jism and Saaya were followed by a number of flops, including Amitabh Bachchan starrer Aetbaar, Pooja Bhatt's directorial debut Paap and Ahmed Khan's Lakeer.

In 2004 that John was rescued from box office hell when he played a negative role in Yash Raj Films' Dhoom. The film was a huge commercial success and emerged as one of the highest grossers of that year.

The next year brought him to the SRK-Karan Johar bandwagon with a role in supernatural thriller Kaal, which did not do well at the box office. The same year, he also tried his hand at comedy with Akshay Kumar in box office hit Garam Masala.

In 2005, John's career received a major boost when he was announced as critically acclaimed director Deepa Mehta's unlikely choice for the male lead in the film Water, dealing with the plight of widows in British era India. John surprised naysayers with his performance and the movie was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

John Abraham went on to appear in multi-starrer films in the coming years, including Zinda, Taxi No 9211 which pitted him against Bollywood veteran Nana Patekar and Baabul alongside big-wigs like Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Rani Mukherji.

His association with director Kabir Khan began in 2006 with Kabul Express. The movie, which also starred Arshad Warsi, received a lot of critical acclaim.

Nikhil Advani's multi starrer Salaam-e-Ishq was John's first release in 2007. It tanked at the box office but made it's presence felt abroad. John's chemistry with co-star Vidya Balan was heavy fuel for the Bollywood rumour mill, though both denied a real life romance.

In 2008, John made up a complicated triangle with Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra in Karan Johar's Dostana. Moviegoers flocked to theatres to catch a glimpse of John's bare behind and the John-Abhishek jodi quickly scaled the screen couple charts.

Continuing his association with Kabir Khan, John's first release of 2009 was another much awaited production by Yash Raj Films, New York. The movie was a critical and commercial success and John's performance was singled out for praise.

Between 2010 and 2011, he starred in several films like Aashayein and Jhootha Hi Sahi, Force and Desi Boyz, which failed to impress the audience.

In April 2011, John met investment banker Priya Runchal through a common friend and they have been a couple ever since. They are rumoured to be engaged though no wedding date has been announced.

2012 turned out to be a good year for the actor as he not only had a hit with Housefull 2 but also with his first production venture Vicky Donor, which was critically acclaimed and a commercial success at the box office.

The actor turned producer will be seen portraying a negative role in the upcoming action film Race 2, starring alongside Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Jacqueline Fernandez.

He is also working on his second production, Hamara Bajaj which reunites Vicky Donor director Shoojit Sircar and star Ayushmann Khurrana.

John is considered a fashion icon and is one of the hottest actors of Bollywood. In 2008, he was the only Indian to make it to the Top 25 Sexiest Men in the World list.

John also has his own fashion line JA clothes, which primarily features jeans.

John is also committed to a number of social causes and is a brand ambassador for PETA. He has a project of his own called John's Brigade for Habitat for Humanity. In 2010, he won NDTV's Greenest Celebrity Award.