That Emran Hashmi is tagged as the hot hunk ‘serial-kisser’ of the Bollywood screen is common knowledge. But now, apparently, he seems to have jumped a few steps ahead. Because in his latest political thriller ‘Shanghai’ releasing today, the hot hunk has donned the avatar of a small-time media person who makes X-rated blue films to earn a quick buck.
There is even a ‘rape scene’ involving Hashmi’s character. In order to get into the skin of his screen character (after all, it’s a skin trade), the ‘Jannat-2’ hero had to even “watch a few pornographic films”.
Asked what he found different in ‘Shanghai’ vis-à-vis his previous flicks, Emran quips that for a change “he was chasing the heroine, instead of the girls hounding him in most of his other movies. And then I have this paunch and a buck-toothed look and even some hilarious scenes where my fans will love my comic overtures. But, overall, the ‘hatke’ thriller story with the election-fever that gets implicated into crime and politics handled by director Dibakar Banerjee makes it a gripping fare. It’s not the usual stuff, yet it’s quite realistic and credible. After having seen his brilliant movie ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’, I always wanted to work with director Dibakar,” insists the actor who disagrees that not all cine-goers would be able to relate to the upmarket title ‘Shanghai’.
“Today’s tech-savvy generation is well aware of the foreign city of Shanghai in China, which is considered a model icon. And it has its exotic oriental mystique. The title actually signifies a distant elusive dream which most Indians have,” he shrugs.