The unconventional Emraan Hashmi and his unbelievable success

They say ‘Nothing Succeeds like Success’. When Emraan Hashmi started his acting career as a tapori in ‘Footpath’, I doubt anyone would have imagined in their wildest of dreams that 10 years down the line, he would be one of the most bankable stars in the country.

His boy-next-door looks, normal build, average acting talent and comparatively negligible dancing ability made him an unconventional hero. But one look at the stats of his decade long career defy all the established logic and as cricket commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu says, ‘Statistics are like mini-skirts, they reveal more than they hide’.

Hashmi has an enviable haul of 13 successful movies (Murder, Zeher, Kalyug, Aksar, Gangster, Jannat, Raaz 2, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji, Murder 2, The Dirty Picture, Jannat 2 and the recent Raaz 3) to his credit in the last decade, a number that stands tall even when compared to many A-List superstars.

Emraan Hashmi

Apart from these, his work has been liked and appreciated in Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Aawarapan and Shanghai too. He also boasts of arguably the most popular song bank in the last 10 years. He is the only actor to be associated with as many as three successful franchises. And what’s more, he’s achieved it all without established female actors, as more often than not he has been paired opposite struggling newcomers.

So what is the reason behind the uniquely mysterious success of Emraan? Well, let’s figure out!

  • Is it sheer luck? Well, c’mon give him his due credit. Luck works once, twice but not for 10 straight years.
  • Is it the erotica Serial-Kisser Image? Again, I am not ready to buy this statement. There are movies like Jism 2, Sheesha, Hiss, Khwahish and many more which provide more erotica but could not sustain at the box office. Also, there are many struggling actors who are more than willing to do such films, so why invest crores on Emraan Hashmi?
  • Is he just a Vishesh Films protégé? It’s true that he is Mahesh Bhatt’s discovery but so is Rahul Roy or Kunal Khemu or many others as Bhatts are known for making small budget movies with newcomers. But how many of them have made it big like Emraan?
  • Does the melodious music work wonders each time? Well then how can we explain the failures of superhit musicals over the years including some of Hashmi’s own movies?

While all of the above mentioned factors cannot be ignored, the basic connect that Emraan has with the audience is the first and foremost reason. He looks the character on screen, plays it naturally and makes the most of his magnetic screen presence. It is not that all his characters have been a cakewalk for him. Even in the presence of show stealers like Ajay Devgan (OUATIM), he has managed to leave a mark. His hunger for success and raw approach towards acting makes him different from the media hyped next generation superstars. Raaz 3 final numbers will be more than the biggest solo hits of Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar), Imran Khan (Delhi Belly), Abhishek Bachchan (Guru), Saif Ali Khan (Cocktail) and John Abraham (Force? Jism?).

It is just a matter of one huge universal success and Emraan will be sitting pretty in the top league. And getting that universal success seems to be just a matter of time now given his upcoming projects with Dharma Productions, Vishal Bhardwaj and Rajkumar Gupta.

What do you think are the reasons behind the staggering success of Emraan Hashmi? Tell us in the comments section below.

Abhishek Sharma

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86 Comments

  • Thanks for writing an article on Emraan Hashmi. He has always been my favourite.

    What first attracted me to his movies was the music. Almost all his movies had fantastic music. Tum Mile, which was a horrible movie with Soha Ali Khan, the title song remains my most favourite even today.

    His acting is also good. He is a natural on screen and two of his best performances for me are in Once Upon a time in Mumbai and Awarapan (underrated movie).

  • The superstar Emraan Hashmi. You summed it up really — far from exceptional acting skills, average looks, short… but still ahead of most of some of our conventional heroes. He has achieved what Abhishek Bachchan, despite all the backing in the industry, couldn’t.

    Even Shahid Kapoor with good looks and acting skills doesnt come close.

    What’s more.. Emraan has a long way to go :)

  • Well I can see that the blogger is a Hashmi fan…He is a good actor very selective in his movies.
    But R3 is all abt Cinema and not star power, Hashmi role is not all that strong…the show stealer was Bipasha. For me only Jannat, Zeher, OUTIM & Awarapan are the ones which belong to him, the rest are just fillers.
    Getting into Big 5 is way too much for him, only those who can enact different roles are there…

  • This man is over-rated. He has just been lucky to get the right music, and been at the right place at the right time when sexual erotic thrillers are doing well at the boxoffice.

    He is yet do something that will stand out like Ranbir Kapoor in Barfi. All his characters are the same.

  • His Acting proficiency is indeed Plausible..Emraan hasmi is much much better than Hrithik.I Think Emraan hasmi should be in top 5 …I wish him all the best for his success.The only actor which has an immense talent and knack to deliver a blockbuster without taking a support from Others.His Acting in Shanghai is praise worthy.Those who believe That Emraan hasmi is not a versatile actor,need medical treatment.All i know is within 5 years,Emraan hasmi could be a biggest biggest superstar,

  • Better than Hrithik? Come on!! Give me a break. Go watch Agneepath, Guzaarish and Jodha Akbar!! Hrithik is a brilliant actor.

  • he has all his competetors such as ranbir and imran and shhid kapoor but he was rated under. action speaks louder than word and so his boxoffice. ranbir was always rated above because of his backgroung family and so as imran who started with a bang just because of aamir otherwise he is nothing and shahid is already following akshay kumar with flops. emraan hashmi is the next superstar

  • I was waiting for an article about Emraan Hashmi. Thanks indicine. I think he has a different but good choice of movies. Almost all of his movies were different to each other & from a typical hindi movie. He has created a new trend in bollywood.

    He is a really underated actor in Bollywood & should get his due credit. Emraan is far better than Salu & Ajay Devgan.

  • much betr dan hrithik nd srk…emraan iz just d wrst hero who still cant act nd cant even get in to nominations of awards…plz dudes get a life…brainless fools..always commenting on successful actors nd jealous of dem…he is onli famous for sexual content and masss films…v saw wat hppnd to shangai,awarapan…nd i donno hw mny movies he has dun…and another fact is h all his movie budgets are so low max of 20-30 cr ,will dfntly make hits..if u release film of 20-30 cr budget with a-listers ,evry film will b all time bb lolz..

  • Thank you so much indicine !!! Super article !! He is surely going to be the next superstar . Give him 2-3 years :) And some people aren’t able to digest his success . They keep giving all sorts of reasons for his movies for being successful but never give him his due . Emraan has the charm that makes him a single screen hero ! Every common man identifies with him . And with his next releases Ghanchakkar and Ungli , he his surely gonna join the 100 crs club !!! Emraan Hashmi – You are the best !!! :)

  • @Anupama,pls don’t tell Emraan is better than Ajay just because you don’t like him. Ajay has two national awards for best actor. Hrithik & SRK are far ahead of Emraan. Emraan is now racing ahead of Shahid Kapoor,John Abraham & Imran Khan. Now considering the budget at which Emraan films are made & their box office collections,Emraan is dark horse of Bollywood.

  • Emmi gonna b next superstar .. His mvies rock in all respect d GOD of hit songs,versatile acting and luks,superb story …hes sumthing more than awsm … Critics take hajmola and try to digest d sucess of any actor u donkeys

  • srk miffed with media tht every day a article abt emran hashmi& salman.So he taken too personally now he is doing bed scences compete wid emran and bombin at end of the trailer just tiger&dabangg effect…one day srk even compete with mallika and rakhi sawant…:p

  • he never ever become a superstar becuase his film does not have universal appeal…it is like indian version of porn movie…which is worst…… and come to era where 200cr look easy now within 1 year film will earn 300cr..in that senario emran hashmi film collection look smaller

  • Jase hum 40 saal baad bhi rajesh khanna ka songs sunta h wasa hi 100 saal ka baad bhi ppl imran hasmi ka song sunaga….

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