Emraan Hashmi:
Emraan Hashmi (born 24 March 1979) is an Indian film actor who appears
in Hindi language films. Before starting his career as an actor, Hashmi worked
with Vishesh Films as an assistant director on Vikram Bhatt's Raaz (2002). In
2003, he made his acting debut with Bhatt's Footpath and followed it with the
commercially successful romantic thriller Murder (2004).
Hashmi subsequently appeared in several commercially successful films,
mostly under the production of Vishesh Films. The critics, however, labelled
him as a "one note actor" and criticized his repetitive roles. These
characters also earned him the "serial kisser" title. Hashmi
eventually garnered wide critical acclaim for his performances in Once Upon a
Time in Mumbaai (2010), The Dirty Picture (2011) and Shanghai (2012). He has
established himself has a leading contemporary actor of Hindi cinema.
Hashmi has received three Filmfare Awards nominations in his career. He is
considered as one of the most popular celebrities in India. He married his
long-time girlfriend Parveen Shahani in 2008 and became father to a son, Ayaan
Hashmi, in 2010.
Early life and background
Emraan Hashmi was born on 24 March 1979 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Anwar
Hashmi and Maherahh Hashmi. He is the nephew of director and producer Mahesh
Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt. He is the cousin of director Mohit Suri actress and
director Pooja Bhatt, actor Rahul Bhatt, and actress Alia Bhatt. Hashmi studied
at Sydenham College, Mumbai and University of Mumbai.
Career:
2003–2007: Debut and breakthrough
Hashmi made his acting debut in 2003, with Vikram Bhatt's thriller
Footpath. Co-starring alongside Aftab Shivdasani and Bipasha Basu, he portrayed
the role of Raghu Shrivastav, a gangster. His performance in the film was
appreciated by critics; Gaurav Malani described him as the
"scene-stealer" and praised his mannerisms. The following year he
featured in Anurag Basu's romantic thriller Murder with Mallika Sherawat and
Ashmit Patel. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama said about his performance,
"Emraan Hashmi is fantastic in a role that seems tailormade for him.
Enacting the role of an obsessive lover with flourish, there's no denying that
the narrative gets a major impetus thanks to Emraan's performance.Murder emerged as a commercial success, with a domestic total of 250 million
(US$4.6 million), becoming the ninth-highest grossing film of the year in
India.
Hashmi next starred in Anurag Basu's romance Tumsa Nahin Dekha – A Love
Story opposite Dia Mirza. While shooting the film Basu was diagnosed with blood
cancer, hence producer-director Mahesh Bhatt completed it. Although the film
did not succeed at the box office, his portrayal of Daksh Mittal (a young
millionaire who falls in love with a bargirl) was generally well received. A
review of his performance in BBC Online noted that he was "becoming
fabulous with every film.
In 2005, Hashmi appeared in Mohit Suri's romantic thriller Zeher,
co-starring Shamita Shetty and Udita Goswami. His portrayal of Siddharth Mehra
(a chief of police who is jealous of his wife's professional success) met with
negative reviews from critics. Patchy N of Rediff.com wrote, "Emraan
Hashmi has done a passable job, except for the scenes where his character gets
angry. The young man yells so loudly that he could well compete with a Sunny
Deol!".The film emerged as a moderate commercial success, earning
over 100 million (US$1.8 million) in India. He then starred in Aditya
Datt's romance Aashiq Banaya Aapne and Vivek Agnihotri's crime thriller
Chocolate, all of which performed poorly at the box office.
Hashmi then took a supporting role in Mohit Suri's thriller Kalyug,
alongside Kunal Khemu, Smilie Suri, Amrita Singh, Ashutosh Rana and Deepal
Shaw. Based on the sex industry, the film depicted the devastating effect that
non-consensual pornographic films have on the subjects. Hashmi featured as Ali Bhai,
a man who runs a sex shop. His performance garnered positive reviews from
critics, with Taran Adarsh writing, "Emraan Hashmi makes a brief
appearance and the actor is, like always, highly competent.Kalyug
was a moderate commercial success in India.
Hashmi's first film in 2006 was Anant Mahadevan's thriller Aksar with Udita
Goswani and Dino Morea. The film was a moderate commercial success at the box
office, but met with negative reviews from critics. He next appeared in
Anurag Basu's romantic thriller Gangster, co-starring Kangna Ranaut and Shiney
Ahuja. The film, which emerged as a commercial success, grossing over 190
million (US$3.5 million) in India, generated positive reviews for his
portrayal of an undercover detective called Aakash. Rediff.com's Raja Sen
wrote, "His character is an understated one, and Hashmi manages to keep it
that way. There is no unnecessary bluster or melodrama, and he does a pretty
believable job. There is something lazy about his acting, by which I mean he makes
the job look easy. Hashmi eventually received his first Filmfare
Awards nomination in the Best Performance in a Negative Role category. He then
acted in the crime thriller The Killer (adapted from the 2004 film
Collateral) and the romance Dil Diya Hai. Both these films were critically
and commercially unsuccessful.
In 2007, Hashmi appeared in three films. He first starred in the comedy
Good Boy Bad Boy alongside Tusshar Kapoor, Isha Sharvani and Tanushree Dutta.
The film was a critical and commercial failure. He then featured opposite
Mrinalini Sharma and Shriya Saran in Mohit Suri's romantic thriller Awarapan.
Hashmi was cast as the protagonist Shivam, a gangster with a tragic past. The
film opened to mixed reviews but his performance was praised by critics.
Writing for The Hindustan Times, critic Khalid Mohamed described it as
"intense and believable". Subhash K Jha wrote, "... Emraan
Hashmi an actor who conceals more than he reveals on screen. There is an
inherent pain in his personality that this film taps better than anything he
has done earlier. This film marks the emergence of a major talent."[25]
His final release of the year was the critically and commercially unsuccessful
thriller The Train 2008–present: Commercial success
Hashmi's only film in 2008 was Kunal Deshmukh's Jannat, a love story set
against the backdrop of match fixing. Co-starring alongside Sonal Chauhan,
Javed Sheikh and Sameer Kochhar, Hashmi was cast as Arjun Dixit, a bookmaker.
His performance was appreciated by critics; Taran Adarash stated, "The
actor displays the gamut of emotions with aplomb, he changes expressions like a
chameleon changes colors. Jannat is yet another turning point in his
career. The film emerged as a commercial success in India, with
revenues of over 420 million (US$7.7 million).
In 2009, Hashmi appeared in Mohit Suri's supernatural horror Raaz – The
Mystery Continues, alongside Kangna Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman. The film was
commercial success, earning over 340 million (US$6.3 million) in India. Hashmi's portrayal of a painter was critically well received; The Times of
India's Nikhat Kazmi wrote, "Emraan Hashmi is fast emerging as the Colin
Farrell of Indian cinema: completely mercurial, eclectic and unpredictable. As
the brooding, prescient painter, who paints death on his canvas and falls in
love with one of subjects, he is suitably aggrieved, desperate and
afraid. He then co-starred opposite Soha Ali Khan in Kunal Deshmukh's
Tum Mile, a love story set against the backdrop of the 2005 Maharashtra floods.
The film was a critical and commercial failure in India.
The following year, Hashmi featured in Milan Luthria's period action-drama
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai with an ensemble cast including Ajay Devgan,
Randeep Hooda, Kangna Ranaut and Prachi Desai. The film, which depicts the rise
of organised crime in Mumbai, saw Hashmi play Shoaib Khan, a character inspired
by the real-life gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai was a
critical and commercial success, with a domestic revenue of over 780 million
(US$14 million). Hashmi's performance garnered positive reviews from
critics and earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 56th Filmfare
Awards. Blessy Chettiar of Daily News and Analysis described him as
"top class". Komal Nahta remarked, "This is easily Emraan's
best performance so far. If he is cute in the romantic scenes, he is believably
tough in the action and dramatic scenes. His next release was Mohit
Suri's thriller Crook, based on the violence against Indians in Australia
controversy. The film was a critical and commercial failure in
India.
In 2011, Hashmi starred in Madhur Bhandarkar's romantic comedy Dil Toh
Baccha Hai Ji, alongside Ajay Devgan, Omi Vaidya, Shazahn Padamsee, Tisca
Chopra and Shruti Hassan. The film was a "below average" grosser at
the box office and received mixed to negative reviews from critics, as
did Hashmi's performance. His next appearance was in Mohit Suri's
slasher thriller Murder 2, alongside Jacqueline Fernandez, Prashant Narayanan
and Sulagna Panigrahi. Upon release, the film and his performance garnered
mixed reviews from critics Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote,
"Hashmi gets to do what he does best, glowering at the men, bedding the
ladies, and towards the end, going head to head with the bad guy he goes
through the film with his usual smart one-liners containing equal amounts of
bluster and fluster. Murder 2 was eventually declared a
blockbuster earning 690 million (US$13 million) worldwide.
Hashmi's final film in 2011 was Milan Luthria's biopic The Dirty Picture,
featuring Vidya Balan as the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha,
alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor. He was cast as Abraham, the
narrator, who proclaims himself to be the protagonist's biggest enemy. The film
opened to critical acclaim and Hashmi's performance was appreciated CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand wrote, Emraan Hashmi is appropriately restrained as
Abraham, a director who believes in film as art, and who abhors the idea of
inserting steamy numbers in his movie to lure in the crowds. However,
several critics were sceptical about his role in the film Soumyadipta
Banerjee from Daily News and Analysis considered it "out of
place".The Dirty Picture emerged as a commercial success with a
worldwide revenue of 1.17 billion (US$22 million).
In 2012, Hashmi appeared in Kunal Deshmukh's crime thriller Jannat 2 with
Randeep Hooda and Esha Gupta. It was initially titled as "Informer"
but was later changed to the current title, making it a follow-up film to
Jannat (2008). The film generated mixed reviews from critics and was a
commercial success at the box office.He then starred alongside Abhay Deol,
Prosenjit Chatterjee and Kalki Koechlin in Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai, an
adaptation of writer Vassilis Vassilikos's novel "Z" and the 1969
French film of the same name. Set in a fictional town called Bharat Nagar,
the political thriller traces corruption in India. The film was a critical
success, and Hashmi received unanimous praise for his portrayal of Joginder
Parmar, a videographer who sometimes shoots pornography. Madhureeta
Mukherjee of The Times of India wrote that Hashmi "looks the part and
pulls off an act he should be proud of. Raja Sen described it as one
of his best performances and wrote, "Emraan Hashmi, delivers a knockout
punch as he masters a complicated role. He received a second Best
Supporting Actor nomination at the 58th Filmfare Awards for his performance in
the film.
Hashmi's next appearance was in Vikram Bhatt's supernatural horror Raaz 3D,
alongside Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta. A commercial success, the film and
his performance received negative reviews; critic Kunal Guha commented,
"[Hashmi] takes his role as seriously as he could but his efforts couldn't
exorcise the devilishly terrible plot from spelling doom for this
film. Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "The swarthy
Hashmi does a forgettable job. His final film in 2012 was Shamin
Desai's thriller Rush. The film was a critical and commercial failure.
As of February 2013, Hashmi is due to appear in Ekta
Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj's Supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan, alongside
Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Kalki Koechlin.He will then feature
in Raj Kumar Gupta's black comedy Ghanchakkar opposite Vidya Balan, Karan
Johar's Ungli and Academy Award winning director Danis Tanovic's next
film. Hashmi will also feature alongside Kareena Kapoor in Ekta Kapoor
and Karan Johar's untitled romantic drama.
