Ever the smart aleck, when asked about his takeaway from Raja Natwarlal , Emran Hashmi says: “In tangible terms, I’ve taken the Raja Natwarlal shirts. They’ve set their own trend. They’re almost like street fashion but not tacky and very flamboyant.” The actor was in town with his co-star Humaima Malik to promote the film, which is being released on August 29.
Getting serious, Emran elaborates, “The emotional journey of the character and changing the way audience sees a scam was fun. Generally it’s about the technicality of the con. But this one has very strong emotions. You will laugh and cry with the character and at the end of the movie you will rejoice and clap. I love the character. He’s funny, witty, flamboyant and almost childlike. He wears his heart on his sleeve and seeing these actions from the character gives me the extension of what I always want to do.”
Being in the garden city for the first time, Humaima feels Bangalore is very green and beautiful. “The South has a huge cinema base. I’m a huge fan of Rajnikanth and this culture of a craze for films is really inspiring.”
Coming from Pakistan, the actor says she took a lot of patience from the experience of working for this film in India for the first time.
“I’ve also learnt a lot coming from my country and working with a new bunch of people. Everyone has been good to me and India is now a second home for me.”
Emran says there is a lot of him in Raja. “He is impulsive, sensitive, emotionally-charged and kind of immature. He also has a dirty sense of humour.”
The tough bit was to make the character believable, he says. “A lot of research went into how cons work and to make Raja the kind of hero he was.”
Humaima plays Zia who is “lovable, vulnerable, a woman of substance and an intense lover. She mothers Raja and tries to protect him. Raja’s character can be impulsive, but she is there for him through thick and thin. She is a bar dancer but is very respectable.”
Humaima says she is similar to her character. “I do love like Zia. I am very real. Zia is what she is. She is very emotional and a strong girl. I’m a self-made girl too since I’ve being working since I was 14.”
The challenges she faced were in the songs and the clothes. “The acting came naturally since I was being myself. And my director helped me a lot and made me very comfortable in my role. The results are beautiful songs like ‘Roohani Romaney’ and ‘Namak Parey’ among others.” Emraan’s message to aspiring actors is “Keep moving ahead. There will be failures. Keep them close to you as they teach you more. Success is a lousy teacher.” Humaima adds: “Just be real to yourself and you’ll be real to the world. Be grounded and respectful to everyone.”
