Emraan Hashmi: Kissing scenes have lost their shock value

'I was missing popular songs, the hero-villain conflict and combat, the drama, the romance…I won’t say kisses because my wife would kill me if I say that!'

Emraan Hashmi returns to what he does best.

After surprising his critics with experimental films like Shanghai, Ghanchakkar and Ek Thi Dayaan, Emraan Hashmi is back on home turf with the commercial potboiler Raja Natwarlal.

The film features the actor as a small time conman, who wants to get into the big league, and will release on August 29.

The 35-year-old actor claims the film has all the elements associated with an Emraan Hashmi potboiler.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon at Bandra Fort in suburban Mumbai, Sonil Dedhia catches up with Emraan Hashmi.

Your previous films Ghanchakkar and Ek Thi Daayan did not do well at the box office. Is there pressure for you to deliver a hit with Raja Natwarlal?

My last release was a year ago. There have been a few personal problems and some delays due to which this film took almost 10 months to be completed.

I hope Raja Natwarlal lives up to expectations. My previous films missed out on good music and a few other things that I am known for.

We are shooting for this song, Tere Hoke Rahenge. It has chartbuster written all over it.

If you are confident of your film, no matter when it comes out, your fans will be waiting to watch it.

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After doing two critically acclaimed films, did you deliberately decide to do a film your fans want to see you in?

Yes, you are right. A critically acclaimed film earns half the earnings in comparison to a commercial film. But I will continue to do such films.

The problem is that the trade is very myopic. They always talk about box office number.

Coming back to what I am really known for -- the quintessential box office mainstream stuff -- Raja Natwarlal, by design, has everything in it.

I was missing popular songs, the hero-villain conflict and combat, the drama, the romance... I won’t say kisses because my wife would kill me if I say that (laughs).

So, yes, I was missing all of that and I am happy I am back doing it.

You play a conman in Raja Natwarlal.

‘Con man’ is too affluent or elitist a word to describe the character that I play. I would rather call him a fraudster.

He comes from the streets and declares, “Main charso bessi karta hoon.”

He prefers small scams to the huge ones, but he is a small-time scamster who wants to become the master of the longer version of the game.

The film was earlier titled Shaatir. Any particular reason for changing the title to Raja Natwarlal?

Shaatir was the working title. We shot half the film with that title. During the shoot, we realised that Raja Natwarlal was a very colourful character.

He says some tongue-in-cheek dialogues and he is a funny guy.

Shaatir was a dark title, so we decided to change it.

Will Raja Natwarlal’s music please fans who were missing the trademark Emraan Hashmi hit music?

Yes, they missed the music. And many other elements that I am known for.

But in this film we are back with chartbusters. The songs will be on air soon.

My films are synonymous with great music. Today, any successful film must have music that connects with classes as well as masses.

The soundtrack of Raja Natwarlal I feel has all of that.

Karan Johar recently passed on the serial kisser tag to Alia Bhatt on his TV show Koffee With Karan.

I am very happy. Please give it to someone else.

I am fed up of the serial kisser crown.

I would love to pass the baton to these young actors and let’s see how far they take it.

When I started off, it was spooky for all of us as no one had attempted something so bold.

Today, the kissing scenes have lost their shock value. It has just become a part of the script. If you want to show romance or a love sequence, you push in a kissing scene.

Have you watched any of Alia’s films?

I rarely watch Hindi movies. I saw Student Of The Year and liked it.

She was pretty good. She always tells me to watch her films. I’ll see her other films soon.

Any plans of working with her in the future?

I would love to, but we would have to play brother-sister, else it would be very twisted (laughs).

You are all set to work again with Vidya Balan in Hamari Adhuri Kahaani.

When The Dirty Picture had released, our pairing was quite liked. There was one scene between Silk and Abraham (their characters in The Dirty Picture) in the pre climax. Besides that, there was no scene between them.

The last scene somehow defined their romance and people felt it was one of the best romantic scenes ever shot.

In Ghanchakkar, we kept fighting but now there will be a lot of scope for romance, drama and intensity. So it will be great I guess.

You had mentioned that you are not going to do any more sequels but the news is that you are going to star in Vikram Bhatt’s Raaz 4.

No, it’s just at a nascent stage. Nothing has been finalised yet.

I still have to green signal it. Right now, I am not doing any sequels.