“In a country which is pre-dominantly into escapist form of cinema, ‘Raja Natwarlal’ is made for audiences who want to rejoice, whistle and clap. It is an event film. It is an Emraan Hashmi film.” There are many things that you can accuse Emraan of but you can’t hold him guilty of hypocrisy. The bad boy of Bollywood knows he is no Rahul – an archetype made popular by Shah Rukh Khan – whom girls want to take home. “I find the ‘Rahuls’ boring. There is no edge there. There is no personality there. The characters I play are flamboyant and mischievous; they are somebody guys aspire to be,” says Emraan.
Indeed, but he is often accused of promoting a kind of cinema that celebrates stalking and takes chauvinism for granted. “What’s the fun in playing a guy whom everybody likes? I like the underdogs, the guys, who have a past, who are slightly morally incorrect but work to rectify it. There is redemption and in the process there is catharsis,” says Emraan who brought an element of lust in Bollywood romance with a series of films whose titles were self explanatory: “Murder”, “Zeher”, “Gangster”, “Crook”….
His latest seems no different. “Raja is a small town street smart boy. To make the ends meet and impress his girl he cons people. How his life changes after a big moment, how the boy becomes a mature man is the crux of the story,” he summarises the contours.
Isn’t it the crux of most if not all of his films? “That way all films come down to six archetypes. We all have some unique landmark event in our lives which define the rest of the life. My life has been like that and it connects with the people. That’s what makes my characters very real. I don’t pitch a fairy tale. In the first half I don’t come across as the guy a girl will like to take home but as you get to know him in two hours you realise that he is flawed yes but he is the guy with a heart and it is better than those righteous guys because he is real.”
But hey isn’t he also the guy who smoothly broke away from the type with “Shanghai”, excelled in parts in “Ek Thi Dayaan” and “Ghanchakkar” and will soon be seen in lead role in Danis Tanovic’s “Tigers” later this year?
“Even in my commercial films there is space for performance,” he justifies his choices. “My films don’t have buffoonery. They don’t take audience intelligence for granted. They are not junk. I don’t market garbage in the name of some big idea. ‘Raja Natwarlal’ has its heart in the right place. It has got a definite character arc. Not too many films have come out with a con angle and it has an emotional line that goes through the film which makes you laugh and cry. Also, the redemption bit doesn’t get predictable here. It is uplifting without getting boring.”
And it is the performances in these films that won him the nod of Tanovic, known for his Oscar winning masterpiece “No Man’s Land”. Emraan says the Bosnian director has touched upon a controversial subject which is relevant to every one’s lives. “It is about the survival of human spirit.”
Premiering at Toronto Film Festival early next month, the film revolves around the story of a salesman who works with a multi-national corporation that markets infant formula milk, the artificial substitute for breast milk. Soon he discovers a big racket...and Emraan underlines that it again turns into a coming of age story.
“I learnt from Tanovic that you should not take your art too seriously. Here we take our art too seriously. The man has won an Oscar but he doesn’t have any ego. He draws fun from filmmaking. He includes everyone into the debate on how he should approach the subject. Some directors stick to their vision but this guy includes everybody into his vision. He lets you interpret the character. He doesn’t bind you. He didn’t spoon-feed me and it worked for me for I do my research. I know my character arc.”
There was a time when top heroines used to decline film offers opposite Emraan. “It is not easy to be a heroine in Bollywood. I come with my own set of rules and it is sometimes uncomfortable for some heroines. But I am not going to change myself for them. If anybody wants to work with me he or she should mould according to my space. Everybody has an agenda. There are no hard feelings.”
The perceptions are changing with Karan Johar signing him for his next production “Ungli”. “It is not me doing a Karan Johar family film. It is Karan Johar producing an Emraan Hashmi film. I am playing an immoral vigilante. It is noir but fun and touches a relevant subject.”
These days a number of married actors are making statements that they don’t want to work in films which they can’t show to their children. “I don’t really make my films for my family. I make them for my audience. In my case there is always a sensuous component in my films. For somebody who never had such a component in his film it is easier to make such a statement. I can’t be completely oblivious to what the audience want to see me as. If I were to make a film for my family only three of us would be watching,” Emraan grins.
