Emraan Hashmi

Emraan Anwar Hashmi (born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. Born into the Bhatt family, he began his career an assistant director on the horror film Raaz (2002). He made his acting debut with the crime film Footpath (2003), and achieved his breakthrough for his starring role in the erotic thriller Murder (2004).

Hashmi went on to star in thrillers such as Zeher (2005), Kalyug (2005), Aksar (2006), and Gangster: A Love Story (2006). His other critically or commercially successful films include Jannat (2008), Raaz: The Mystery Continues (2009), Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), Murder 2 (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011), Jannat 2 (2012), Shanghai (2012) and Raaz 3: The Third Dimension (2012). He earned nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai and Shanghai.

This was followed by a series of poorly received films and a hiatus. He returned with the commercially successful action thriller Tiger 3 (2023), which earned him his third Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Early life
Hashmi was born on 24 March 1979, in Mumbai, Maharashtra into a Muslim family of the Syed clan. His father, Syed Anwar Hashmi, is a businessman, who also acted in the mystery film Baharon Ki Manzil (1968), and his mother, Maherrah Hashmi, was a homemaker. His paternal grandfather, Syed Shaukat Hashmi, migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India, where he worked as a journalist and as a film director, while his grandmother, Meherbano Mohammad Ali (known by her screen name Purnima), was an actress, who stayed in India.

Meherbano Mohammad Ali later married producer-director Bhagwan Das Varma, making him Hashmi's step-grandfather and Hashmi a part of the Varma family. Emraan Hashmi is also a part of the Bhatt family as Meherbano was the sister of Shirin Mohammad Ali, the mother of producers Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, who are thus Hashmi's uncles. Hashmi is the second cousin of director Mohit Suri, with whom he has collaborated in several films, actresses Pooja Bhatt and Alia Bhatt and actor Rahul Bhatt. Udita Goswami is his sister-in-law. Hashmi studied at the Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School. Later, he attended Sydenham College in Mumbai and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai.

2003–2007: Debut, breakthrough and commercial fluctuations
Hashmi made his acting debut with Vikram Bhatt's thriller Footpath (2003) alongside Aftab Shivdasani and Bipasha Basu. His performance as Raghu Shrivastav, a gangster, was appreciated by critics, with Gaurav Malani describing him as the "scene-stealer" and praised his mannerisms. It emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.

He achieved his breakthrough with Anurag Basu's erotic thriller Murder (2004) co-starring Mallika Sherawat and Ashmit Patel in lead roles. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama said about his performance: "Hashmi is fantastic in a role that seems tailor-made for him. Portraying an obsessive lover with flourish, there's no denying that the narrative gets a major impetus thanks to Hashmi's performance." Murder emerged as a commercial success, with a domestic total of inr 250000000, ranking as the eighth highest-grossing Hindi fim of the year.



Hashmi next starred in Basu's musical romance Tumsa Nahin Dekha (2004) opposite Dia Mirza. While shooting the film, Basu was diagnosed with blood cancer, so producer-director Mahesh Bhatt stepped in to complete it. Although the film emerged as a commercial disaster at the box office, Hashmi's portrayal of Daksh Mittal (a young millionaire who falls in love with a bargirl, played by Mirza) received mixed-to-positive reviews. A review of his performance in BBC Online noted that he was "becoming fabulous with every film."

The next year, Hashmi's only film appearance was a supporting role in Mohit Suri's action thriller Kalyug (2005), alongside Kunal Khemu, Smilie Suri, Amrita Singh, Ashutosh Rana and Deepal Shaw. Based on the sex industry, the film depicted the devastating effect that non-consensual pornographic films have on the subjects. Hashmi featured as Ali Bhai, a man who runs a sex shop. His performance, and the film, garnered positive reviews from critics, with Taran Adarsh writing: "Hashmi makes a brief, but solid, appearance and the actor is, like always, highly competent." Kalyug emerged as a moderate commercial success in India. Hashmi appeared in Zeher, Ashiq Banaya Apne and Chocolate.

Hashmi's first screen appearance in 2006 was Anant Mahadevan's erotic thriller Aksar alongside Udita Goswami and Dino Morea. The film was super hit, and well received from critics. He followed it up with Basu's musical romantic thriller Gangster: A Love Story co-starring debutante Kangana Ranaut and Shiney Ahuja in lead roles. The film emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing over inr 190000000 in India. It opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with Hashmi's portrayal of Akash Kapadia, an undercover detective, receiving particular praise. Rediff.com 's Raja Sen wrote, "Hashmi's character is an understated one, and he manages to keep it that way. There is no unnecessary bluster or melodrama, and he does a pretty believable job. There is something lazy about his acting, by which I mean he makes the job look easy." Hashmi's performance in the film earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. He then appeared in the crime thriller The Killer (adapted from the 2004 film Collateral) and the romance Dil Diya Hai, both of which emerged as critical and commercial disasters.

In 2007, Hashmi appeared in three films, the first being the comedy Good Boy Bad Boy alongside Tusshar Kapoor, Isha Sharvani and Tanushree Dutta. The film received negative reviews from critics upon release and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next featured as a gangster with a tragic past in Suri's neo-noir action drama Awarapan (2007) alongside Mrinalini Sharma and Shriya Saran. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise directed towards Hashmi's performance. Writing for the Hindustan Times, critic Khalid Mohamed described it as "intense and believable". Subhash K Jha wrote: "...Hashmi [is] an actor who conceals more than he reveals on screen. There is an inherent pain in his personality that this film taps better than anything he has done earlier. This film marks the emergence of a major talent." Despite positive critical reception, it emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office. Over the years, Awarapan has attained cult status, primarily due to Hashmi's performance. His final release of the year was the romantic thriller The Train, co-starring Geeta Basra and debutante Sayali Bhagat in lead roles. Narrating the story of a married couple caught in a complex extramarital love triangle, the film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.

2008–2012: Commercial success and stardom
Hashmi's only film appearance in 2008 was Kunal Deshmukh's crime romance Jannat. Depicting a love story set against the backdrop of match fixing, the film also starred Sonal Chauhan, Javed Sheikh and Sameer Kochhar. The film, and Hashmi's performance in the film as Arjun Dixit, a bookmaker, received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics; Taran Adarsh commented that "[t]he actor displays the gamut of emotions with aplomb, he changes expressions like a chameleon changes colors. Jannat is yet another turning point in his career." The film emerged as a commercial success in India, with revenues of over inr 420000000.

In 2009, Hashmi appeared in Suri's supernatural horror film Raaz: The Mystery Continues, alongside Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman. Hashmi's portrayal of a painter, and the film, received mixed-to-positive reviews; The Times of India's Nikhat Kazmi wrote: "Hashmi is fast emerging as the Colin Farrell of Indian cinema: completely mercurial, eclectic and unpredictable. As the brooding, prescient painter, who paints death on his canvas and falls in love with one of subjects, he is suitably aggrieved, desperate and afraid." Its domestic collection exceeded inr 340000000, emerging as a commercial success at the box-office. He then starred opposite Soha Ali Khan in Kunal Deshmukh's romantic drama disaster Tum Mile, which narrated a love story set against the backdrop of the 2005 Maharashtra floods. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release; however, it emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.

The following year, Hashmi featured in Milan Luthria's period action drama Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai with an ensemble cast including Ajay Devgan, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai and Randeep Hooda. The film, which depicted the rise of organised crime in Mumbai, saw Hashmi play Shoaib Khan, a character inspired by real-life gangster Dawood Ibrahim. With a domestic revenue of over inr 780000000, Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hashmi's performance. Blessy Chettiar of Daily News and Analysis described him as "top class", while Komal Nahta remarked: "This is easily Hashmi's best performance so far. If he is cute in the romantic scenes, he is believably tough in the action and dramatic scenes." For his performance, Hashmi received his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. His next release that year was Suri's action thriller Crook, based on the violence against Indians in Australia controversy. However, the film was panned by critics and emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office.

Hashmi began 2011 with Madhur Bhandarkar's romantic comedy Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji alongside Devgn, Omi Vaidya, Shazahn Padamsee, Tisca Chopra and Shruti Hassan. The film, and Hashmi's performance, received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next featured in Suri's psychological action thriller Murder 2, alongside Jacqueline Fernandez. The film, and Hashmi's performance, received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote: "Hashmi gets to do what he does best, glowering at the men, bedding the ladies, and towards the end, going head to head with the bad guy [...] he goes through the film with his usual smart one-liners containing equal amounts of bluster and fluster." Murder 2 emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, with a domestic revenue of over inr 476000000. His final film appearance that year was Luthria's biographical musical drama The Dirty Picture, featuring Vidya Balan as the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha, alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor. He portrayed Abraham, the narrator, who proclaims himself to be the protagonist's biggest enemy. The film opened to widespread critical acclaim, with praise for Hashmi's performance; CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand wrote: "Hashmi is highly restrained as Abraham, a director who believes in film as art, and who abhors the idea of inserting steamy numbers in his movie to lure in the crowds." However, several critics were sceptical about his role in the film; Soumyadipta Banerjee from Daily News and Analysis considered it "out of place". It emerged as a major commercial success with a worldwide revenue of over inr 1140000000. Murder 2 and The Dirty Picture ranked as the ninth and seventh highest-grossing Hindi films of the year.

In 2012, Hashmi appeared in Deshmukh's crime thriller Jannat 2 alongside Hooda and Esha Gupta. It was initially titled Informer, but was later changed to the current title, making it a follow-up film to Jannat (2008). The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a commercial success at the box-office. He next starred alongside Abhay Deol, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Kalki Koechlin in Dibakar Banerjee's political thriller Shanghai, an adaptation of writer Vassilis Vassilikos's novel Z and the 1969 French film of the same name. Set in a fictional town called Bharat Nagar, it traced corruption in India. The film opened to critical acclaim upon release, and Hashmi received widespread praise for his portrayal of Joginder Parmar, a videographer who sometimes shoots porn films. Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India wrote that Hashmi "looks the part and pulls off an act he should be proud of." Raja Sen described it as one of his best performances and wrote: "Hashmi delivers a knockout punch as he masters a complicated role" and called it as "the year's finest, bravest and most consistent performance." Hashmi's next appearance that year was for Vikram Bhatt's supernatural horror film Raaz 3: The Third Dimension, collaborating again with Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta. The third film in the Raaz film series, it emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office,  and opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics; however, Hashmi's performance received mixed reviews. critic Kunal Guha commented: "[Hashmi] takes his role as seriously as he could but his efforts couldn't exorcise the devilishly terrible plot from spelling doom for this film." Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The swarthy Hashmi [...] does a forgettable job. His final film of the year was Shamin Desai's delayed thriller Rush, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office.

2013–present: Commercial setbacks and Tiger 3
In 2013, Hashmi's first film appearance was in Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj's supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan, alongside Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Koechlin in lead roles. The film, and Hashmi's performance, opened to positive reviews from critics upon release. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV mentioned that Hashmi "gives the character of the haunted magician just that – a haunted feel that is just apt", whilst Shubhra Gupta called his performance "consistent", adding that he "is a performer who keeps getting better". Hashmi's second appearance that year was for Raj Kumar Gupta's comedy thriller Ghanchakkar opposite Balan. The film, and Hashmi's performance, opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release. Sneha May Francis of Emirates 24/7 wrote that "Hashmi spins one of his acting career's most understated, yet imposing performances. He crafts [his character's] predicaments – his anger, frustration and suspicions – with effortless charm." Rajeev Masand was more critical of his performance, reflecting that he "struggles to shine under the limited scope of his role." On the commercial front, Ek Thi Daayan emerged as a below-average grosser, while Ghanchakkar emerged as a commercial disaster.

In 2014, Hashmi starred in Deshmukh's crime thriller Raja Natwarlal and Rensil D'Silva's crime drama thriller Ungli, both of which emerged as critical and commercial failures at the box-office, with the latter being Hashmi's fifth consecutive commercial failure. He then played the leading role in Academy Award-winning director Danis Tanović's drama Tigers, which premiered at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was later released digitally on the on-demand platform ZEE5 in November 2018.

In 2015, Hashmi appeared in two films, the first being the science fiction action film Mr. X alongside Amyra Dastur, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office. His second film that year was the long-awaited musical romantic drama Hamari Adhuri Kahani, opposite Balan for the third time, alongside Rajkummar Rao. The film was based on the love story of Bhatt's parents, Nanabhai Bhatt, Shirin Mohammad Ali and his stepmother Hemlata Bhatt. It opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office. The same year, he appeared alongside Gupta in the music video of the romantic song "Main Rahoon Ya Naa Rahoon" composed by Armaan Malik and Amaal Malik, and presented by T-Series.

The following year, he starred in the biographical drama Azhar (2016), based on the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The film opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next appeared in Vikram Bhatt's Raaz: Reboot (2016), the fourth film in the Raaz film series. It emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office.

Hashmi's spate of commercial failures continued in 2017 with Luthria's action adventure Baadshaho co-starring alongside Devgan, Ileana D'Cruz, Gupta and Vidyut Jammwal, another critical and commercial disaster. The same year, he also began shooting for Captain Nawab, but the film was later shelved.

After a special appearance as himself in the comedy Welcome to New York (2018), Hashmi made his OTT debut with the spy thriller web series Bard of Blood, which was based on the novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqui. Produced by Shah Rukh Khan and released on Netflix, it opened to mixed reviews from critics.

In 2019, he appeared in the crime drama Why Cheat India and the mystery thriller The Body, the latter co-starring Rishi Kapoor in his final film appearance, with both films again emerging as critical and commercial disasters. The same was the fate of his 2021 releases – the crime action film Mumbai Saga, the mystery thriller Chehre (co-starring Amitabh Bachchan) and the supernatural horror film Dybbuk.    The same year, Hashmi also featured in the music video of the romantic song "Lut Gaye", presented by T-Series, directed by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, and sung by Jubin Nautiyal.

In 2022, Hashmi again featured in the music video "Ishq Nahi Karte" sung by B Praak and Jaani. After no film releases in 2022, he returned to screen in 2023 with the action comedy-drama Selfiee, co-starring Akshay Kumar. A remake of the 2019 Malayalam-language film Driving Licence, the film emerged as a critical and commercial disaster.

Hashmi had a career resurgence when he starred as Aatish Rehman, the antagonist in Maneesh Sharma's action thriller Tiger 3, co-starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. The film is a part of the YRF Spy Universe. The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hashmi's performance. It emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing inr 4666300000 worldwide, ranking as the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, the sixth highest-grossing Indian film of the year and the 23rd highest-grossing Indian film of all time. His performance in the film earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Hashmi will make his debut in Telugu cinema with Sujeeth's action thriller They Call Him OG, co-starring Pawan Kalyan and Priyanka Arul Mohan.

Personal life
Hashmi married Parveen Shahani in an Islamic wedding ceremony in December 2006 after a six and a half-year relationship. The couple have a son, Ayaan Hashmi, who was born on 3 February 2010. On 15 January 2014, Ayaan was diagnosed with first-stage cancer. Five years later, in 2019 January, Ayaan Hashmi was declared cancer free.

While Hashmi's father is Muslim and his mother was Christian, Hashmi was brought up as a Muslim and says he is a "firm believer in God". His mother, Maherrah Hashmi, died on 11 March 2016, Hashmi cancelled one day shoot of his film Azhar, when he got to know about his mother's demise. He did not want to delay the shoot of Azhar any further and also wanted to occupy his mind with work. So, he returned to the sets the soonest he could. In 2016, Hashmi launched the auto-biographical book called "The Kiss of Life", which was based on his son's journey against cancer.