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In his six year long career so far, Emraan Hashmi has given quite a few hits at the box office. Still with each release of
his, he has been required to answer his critics and prove his detractors wrong.
In the meanwhile, he has
continued to earn a loyal fan base for himself which started from B and C centers, reached the single screen audiences
and has now finally seen even multiplex audience warming up to his popularity and screen presence, something that has
been witnessed in Awarapan, Jannat and now Raaz - The Mystery Continues.
"You tell me, for how long do I have to continue to prove to the world about my presence in the industry", questions
Emraan Hashmi who is experimenting with his roles and look in each of his films, "Between Gangster and Awarapan,
there was a phase in my career when there wasn't much happening my career.
My films were not working and
it was actually a harrowing phase. This is when I made a conscious call to reinvent myself."
And reinvent he did with Awarapan that brought him together with Mohit Suri, his friend and director with whom he had
grown up since childhood and also worked with in Zeher and Kalyug.
"It was heartbreaking to see Awarapan
not working. It may sound clichéd but I gave my heart, body and soul to the film. Those who saw the film loved it but
then destiny had other plans.
It didn't work commercially at the box office but for my standing as an actor, it
really benefited a lot. Finally, it seemed that the industry had started taking me seriously", remembers
Emraan.
It was a one year long wait before Jannat released in 2007. The movie took a bumper opening at the box office and the
floodgates opened for Emraan Hashmi who saw his biggest opening film till then.
"I have somehow stuck to my
stand of doing only solo films, until and unless something exceptional comes up, and though it is big risk, it also
translates into big benefits", says Emraan.
Though the success of Jannat was a huge shot in the arm for Emraan Hashmi, cynics were still not willing to give
Emraan his due by calling the film's success a fluke.
"You can't help that, can you", asks Emraan Hashmi who is still doing majority of films with Bhatts, "I know for sure
where my fan base resides and as long as they are happy, my producers are happy, I am getting my market price,
heroines are willing to work with him and my wife isn't questioning me every morning if I would kiss for camera or not, I
am happy", winks Emraan!
Nevertheless, his wife Parveen would certainly not have any questions for Emraan after the release of Raaz - The
Mystery Continues and there are two reasons for that - a) The film has taken the biggest ever opening for an Emraan
Hashmi starrer and b) It is Adhyayan Suman and not Emraan Hashmi who locks lips with Kangna.
Laughs Emraan, "Well, the film has worked even without a kiss from me so I guess the jinx is finally broken."
He adds on a serious note, "At least now do I have the right to feel successful? This is my second straight film that has
taken a solid opening.
Even otherwise, I have constantly delivered successful films during last 6 years -
Murder, Zeher, Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Kalyug, Aksar, Gangster, Jannat and now Raaz - The Mystery Continues. Agar
kuch logon ko yeh ek long successful winning streak nahi lagti toh I can't help it. And actually, I don't care."
Some distributors have even gone to the extent of billing him as mini-Akshay Kumar in the making; someone who can
guarantee a solid opening with every release of his.
"Arrey yaar don't get me into that trap. I am not
commenting anything on this. Akshay has been around for close to two decades and done a lot in his career. Still, you
can't say much for the audience. We just saw what happened to Chandni Chowk To China", he says with
caution.
"Yes, what I am confident though is that I would continue to choose the best of the scripts coming my way. I won't let
down my audience; that's a promise.
After that it is all destiny and luck", he signs off as he continues to make
rounds across the country promoting Raaz - The Mystery Continues which is now all set to surpass the business of his
last success Jannat and hence turn out to be the biggest money spinner of his career.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009 12:02 IST