THE THEORY OF RELATIVE-ITY
Emraan Hashmis is living proof that it doesnt hurt to have relatives in the showbiz. He took up
Footpath for a lark, a mere four years ago in 2003. The movie did not do well, but Emraan was bitten by the bollywood bug.
Mahesh Bhatt has a filmmaking factory, and a surefire formula. Make a movie with a racy subject, something to do with ess-ee-ex, throw in a few provocative scenes, a story (usually lifted from hollywood) that doesnt bore people. Keep the budget low by shooting the film with as many relatives or newcomers as possible. With a low break-even, the movie makes more than it costs. The newcomers grab eyeballs, the heroines send out the right dare-bare signals and the movie is declared a hit.
Emraan fits very well into the scheme of things. He isnt big like
John Abraham and Mallika who were off like a kite after a few films. He isnt a total flop like ...(err too plenty to list here). So he is here, doing good business for his uncle, making a name for himself gradually, and having fun.
MURDER HE WROTEAlthough
Footpath sank into the ditch,
Murder (2004) didnt. This was a remake of Unfaithful with Mallika playing Diane Lane, Asmit Patel playing Richard Gere (no giggles please), and
Emraan Hashmi as the hot hot Oliver Martinez (ask Kylie). We wont talk about Asmit, but Mallika sizzled, and Emraan, to his credit provided good support to the bad girl.
Himesh Reshammiya came up with a music to match.
Kaho na Kaho... Kumar Ganjawala crooned and the viewers sweated as the heat was on. Emraan and Mallika made out on a precarious window ledge. This window ledge is almost a copyright spot for all Bhatt characters to weep, make love, confess in.
Mallika tried to hijack all the credit for
Murder and was bumped off the Mahesh Bhatt camp. It was left to
Emraan Hashmi to gamely kiss his way to success.
SOMEONE LIKE YOUTumsa Nahin Dekha was a movie of love and obsession. Again, a small movie, quite in the mould of a Bhatt release, though it was not from the Bhatt camp. Good songs, pretty girl, an attentive hero, alas, no box office success.
Zeher (2005) was a suspense thriller. A husband estranged from his wife because he strayed. A sexy corpse, Udita Goswami who had a past with the hero. An unhappy wife, Shamita Shetty. A grim 0police officer,
Emraan Hashmi, trying to unravel the mystery. A few hot scenes to lure the audiences, great songs to lull their senses.
Woh Lamhe .. lifted from Jal, a pakistani band was a rage. The movie was a semi hit.
WHEN EMU MET TANU
Aashiq-Banaya-Aapne.lkc">Aashiq Banaya Aapne marked the debut of Tanushree Dutt. Tanu plays a girl who is engaged to a guy but is attracted to another. The movie carried on the formula listed above and Himesh Reshmmiyya launched himself as a singer with
Aashiq-Banaya-Aapne.lkc">Aashiq Banaya Aapne. The song was a rage, even though the movie was not. The low costs saw the movie sail through, and Emraan consolidated his position as a kissing king.
Choclate was the desi take on The Usual Suspects with
Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan saving the show. Sexy Tanu struck again with some Sharon Stone like poses.
Emraan Hashmi performed creditably as Deva and the movie proved that he could take up outside projects and act well.
Kalyug (2005) another Vishesh film was the debut vehicle of Kunal Khemu, another Bhatt nephew, but Emraan had an important role in the movie. The movie was about a young man, Kunal, whose honeymoon is caught on video and marketed as reality porn. His wife commits suicide and Kunal vows vengeance. Emraan plays a young tout who helps Kunal at a crucial juncture in the movie. He put in a deglamourised, kiss-less performance and was lauded for it.
BOLLYWOOD KISSERBollywood stars rarely get to kiss their girl, Emraan is lucky that he gets to do that in most films. He also earned the sobriquet of
The Serial Kisser. He wore the title proudly in
Jawani Diwani, where he played a merry womaniser who is struck by love. The movie was shot in Mauritius and was touted as a young fun movie. Well.. atleast Emraan got to wear a TeeShirt that proclaimed '
Serial Kisser' and prance about in picturesque Mauritius with two heroines, Celina and Hrishita.
Aksar (2006) was another typical Vishesh film (Bhatt Banner), a thriller romance with Himesh music- this time the iconic,
ek baar aaja aaja .. Laagi Laagi.. Soniyee.. The movie did quite well.
GOOD GUY BAD GUYGangster (2006) was a surprise package. It was slicker than most Bhatt offerings. Shot in picturesque Seoul, it looked like a triangle between Shiney Ahuja, Kangana Ranaut and
Emraan Hashmi. The story was taut, and the movie was very well directed and presented by Anurag Basu. It was a big hit with all the three lead stars garnering kudos for their wonderful performance. Emraan played Akash, a nightclub singer who is in love with Kangana, who is involved with a
Gangster. The story was supposed to be inspired by Abu Salem and Monica Bedi. After
Murder, the movie remains a feather in the cap of Emraan.
The Killer was the Vishesh films version of The Collateral, with Ifran doing a good job as the indian Tom Cruise. Again a quick small film that jumped over several big budget flops to a good collection. Killer songs helped too, Nisha Kothari heaved and writhed to
Abhi to main jawaan hoon. Her taxi driver boyfriend Emraan is blackmailed into carting Irfaan around as he goes on a killing spree. Until Emraan learns that his sweetheart is in danger and tries to turn the tables on Irfaan. Pitting himself against a great actor like Irfaan is not easy, but Emraan managed it.
THE WANDERERThis year (2007) has been a mixed bag for Emraan. Mukta Arts'
Good Boy, Bad Boy has sunk.
The Train was viewed with interest but not appreciated much.
Awarapan is seen as Emraan's coming of age movie. He has played a grim killer who is moved to save his victim, and change himself in the process. The music was awesome, with a lilting
Mahiya and the soulful sufi number
Tera Mera Rishta Purana by Mustafa Zahid. This dark movie was well recieved and appreciated by many.
So far, Emraan is still a newbie in the industry who has carved his niche and done some good and some indifferent work. Love him or hate him, ignore him you cant.
GOSSSSSIP
When he landed up in the industry, Amisha Patel went on record to say that he could not act.
Hello lady ! Look who is talking.
Though he called himself single, he had a long term girlfriend Parveen Shahni and married her recently.
Quite like a coy bollywood bride, he declared there will be no more kissing in his movies as his wife may not like it... HE HE HE HE HE.
FILMOGRAPHY - The Train (2007)
- Good Boy, Bad Boy (2007) .... Raju Malhotra
- Anjaam (2007)
- Dil Diya Hai (2006) .... Saahil
- The Killer (2006) .... Nikhil Joshi
- Gangster (2006) (as Emran Hashmi) .... Akash
- Aksar (2006) .... Ricky Sharma
- Jawani Diwani: A Youthful Joyride (2006) .... Mann Kapoor
- Kalyug (2005) .... Alibhai
- Chocolate (2005) .... Deva
- Aashiq-Banaya-Aapne.lkc">Aashiq Banaya Aapne: Love Takes Over (2005) .... Vikram "Vicky" Mathur
- Zeher (2005) (as Emran Hashmi) .... Siddharth Mehra
- Tumsa Nahin Dekha (2004) .... Daksh Mital
- Murder (2004) .... Sunny
- Footpath (2003) .... Raghu Srivastav