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.

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