Early life

John started his career as an assistant director

Assistant director

The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...

 on the epic movie Gandhi

Gandhi (film)

Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...

, directed by Sir Richard Attenborough

Richard Attenborough

Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...

. Govind Nihlani was also working on the same film. John went on to assist Govind Nihlani on several of his films before starting out on his own as an ad-film maker. John was offered to direct a film at the age of 24 but he rejected the offer since he felt he wasn't mature enough to direct yet. He directed his first film, Sarfarosh

Sarfarosh

Sarfarosh was a critically and commercially successful action film, released in 1999. It was directed by John Matthew Matthan and starred Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre and Naseeruddin Shah. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992...

 at the age of 38.

Creativity Coming Out

John knew he wanted to become a director since a very young age. He started his production company Cinematt Pictures Pvt Ltd at Famous studio in Mahalaxmi

Mahalaxmi

Mahalaxmi can refer to:* Mahalaxmi : the Hindu goddess of wealth and patron goddess of the city of Kolhapur, Maharashtra.* Mahalaxmi : a location in the city of Mumbai....

, Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. John's brother George was also involved in Cinematt Pictures. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992. Seven years were spent on the research, pre-production and production till it finally released in 1999. The film was a hit both critically and commercially.

Post 'Sarfarosh', John started working on a script which involved the issue of brain drain

Brain drain

Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...

. But after the 9/11 tragedy, the script lost its pertinence and John moved on to another idea which germinated in the form of 'Shikhar

Shikhar (film)

The film's soundtrack is composed by Viju Shah with lyrics penned by Sudhakar Sharma, Anita Sarkar, Chandrashekhar Rajit and Manohar Iyer.-Tracklist:-External links:*...

'.

John's second film 'Shikhar', although critically acclaimed did not fare too well at the box office. Expectations were very high from the maker of 'Sarfarosh' and probably that is what caused 'Shikhar' to sink.

John's next film titled A New Love Ishtory

A New Love Ishtory

A New Love Ishtory is an upcoming Bollywood comedy film directed by John Matthew Matthan, starring Himesh Reshammiya, Niharika Singh and Rakesh Bapat. It was announced on 29 November 2007 and was supposed to be released in 2008 after Karzzzz and Kajraare. however, after the sting of flops of Himesh...

 which is written by Vipul K Rawal

Vipul K Rawal

-Early years:Born on 7th November, 1968 in the former princely state of Wadhwan, Vipul K Rawal did his schooling from a Military School in Dehradun and later in Vapi, Gujarat. It was during his college days in Madras, that the filmy bug really bit him. His college was situated in Kodambakkam, also...

 of Iqbal (film) fame starring Himesh Reshammiya

Himesh Reshammiya

Himesh Reshammiya is an Indian music director, composer, singer and actor.-Music and film career:Himesh Reshammiya was born in Bhavnagar, Gujarat to Vipin Reshammiya and Madhu Reshammiya. He had his first success as a music director of the 2003 film, Tere Naam...

 and newcomer Niharika Singh

Niharika Singh

Niharika Singh is the winner of Femina Miss India Earth 2005. She also won the subtitles of Miss Beautiful Hair and Miss Photogenic and went on to represent India at the Miss Earth pageant in Manilla, Phillipines. She has endorsed various Products, featured in various TV commercials and music...

 is 90% complete and will release this year.

He already has another script

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 complete which is once again written by Vipul K Rawal

Vipul K Rawal

-Early years:Born on 7th November, 1968 in the former princely state of Wadhwan, Vipul K Rawal did his schooling from a Military School in Dehradun and later in Vapi, Gujarat. It was during his college days in Madras, that the filmy bug really bit him. His college was situated in Kodambakkam, also...

shooting for which will commence after the above film releases. It is a political and historic thriller. The movie that is based on the writer's experience in the Indian Navy and true classified events, took the writer more than five years to research. The story spans 40 years and may cost upwards of Rs. 100 Crores.