Is Emraan Hashmi Bollywood’s unofficial superstar?
While we go ga-ga over the new Imran (as in Imran Khan, the Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na heartthrob), spare a thought to the original Emraan. Yup, the serial kisser. Yup, the one who does outrageous things in movies just to get the girl’s attention. In Tumsa Nahin Dekha, he forcefully kissed Dia Mirza the first time he saw her in full public view, in Jannat, he broke the display window of a shop when he saw Sonal Chauhan looking longingly at a diamond ring and in Gangster, he slept with Kangana Ranaut so that he could use her as a bait to trap her criminal boyfriend.
Nobody can get away with such murder on screen and still be called a leading man. Well, Hashmi can. In just over five years, Hashmi has carved an identity and a loyal fan base. His films make money (at least one big hit a year; that’s more than John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan and Shahid Kapoor have delivered). His is the face that launched a thousand new voices in Bollywood. It was in Bheege honth that we heard Kunal Ganjawala the first time; his Woh lamhe gave us Aatif Aslam. And who can forget Hashmi and Himesh Reshammiya’s combination in Aashiq banaya aapne.
Clearly, Hashmi is in the right business. Clearly, he has mastered the formula of dishing out what the aam aadmi wants. Yet he remains the uncrowned superstar. Why is that? Hashmi decodes the riddle for us.

Do you ever feel that you haven’t got your due?
I’d like to think that I’ve got my fair share of hype. It’s been a conscious decision to lie low since I didn’t want to overexpose myself. At the end of the day, newcomers will come and go, flavours of the month will change but good work and successful films never go unnoticed.

... contd.