MUMBAI: Emraan Hashmi is back in the spotlight. His two major projects ‘Mumbai Saga’ and ‘Chehre’ are ready for release, and unconfirmed reports suggest he could be Salman Khan’s villain in ‘Tiger 3’. He also has a supernatural thriller ‘Ezra’ coming up.
As per modest trade estimates, the actor has Rs 200-250 crore riding on him. Emraan is more interested in the audience reaction to his upcoming films.
“This year is interesting. I am proud of these releases. There is ‘Mumbai Saga’, ‘Chehre’ and the horror film ‘Ezra’. It’s a mixed bag and I am waiting for them to release and have people enjoy them. After 20 days of ‘Mumbai Saga’ releasing, we have ‘Chehre’ coming. I am looking forward to my films,” he says.
His forthcoming roster is spread over the next several months and could define the shape of things to come for the actor, who gave the Bollywood mainstream hero one of its most maverick antiheroes twists in his early years, as the industry’s Serial Kisser. Although Emraan also has Shyam Madiraju’s offbeat crime drama ‘Harami’ in his upcoming roster, that film has been more about winning over the global festival circuit so far, than giving his Bollywood career any sort of a push.
Among his commercial line-up, only ‘Ezra’ is a solo starrer but that film belongs to his favoured horror genre which has given him some of his biggest hits. All other upcoming films are multi-hero projects.
‘Chehre’ sees him team up with Amitabh Bachchan, and the Rumy Jafry film also has the other ‘co-star’ who has never failed Emraan — catchy music. The presence of Rhea Chakraborty in the cast has added curiosity to the film, slated for an 9 April release.
‘Mumbai Saga’ is Sanjay Gupta’s new gangster drama that primarily pits Emraan’s obsessed cop against John Abraham’s don Amartya Rao. The film is slated to release on 19 March.
Finally, ‘Tiger 3’ is very much a Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif vehicle but reports have suggested that Emraan could be essaying a distinct villain in the film. The actor himself is guarded about ‘Tiger 3’. Asked if he has signed the film, he said: “I will talk about it when things are clear.” All these films are multi-hero projects that have interesting roles for him. In his early 40s now, Emraan perhaps knows going solo is not always a prudent idea in a box office scenario that is increasingly getting unpredictable (his last solo release was ‘Why Cheat India’, a film that grossly underperformed at the box office).
Also, for most of his career, he invariably shone in multi-hero projects. Random recall would bring back ‘Murder’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’, ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’, ‘Kalyug’, ‘Aksar’, ‘Gangster’, and ‘Raaz: The Mystery Continues’. Teaming up with Big B, Salman or John could pay off.