Emraan Hashmi to lose his Serial Kisser title

B-Town Katta@Katta stop

Emraan Hashmi to lose his Serial Kisser title

With every actor kissing onscreen, is it time for Emraan to reinvent himself

Wearing all those stone-studded rings on his fingers hasn’t had much of an effect on Emraan Hashmi’s career, of late. For some time now, Bollywood’s serial kisser has been facing bad luck at the box-office. Despite liplocks being a part of his last four releases — with Neha Dhupia and Sagarika Ghatge (Rush), Huma Qureshi (Ek Thi Daayan), Vidya Balan (Ghanchakkar) and Humaima Malick (Raja Natwarlal), there’s not a hit in sight. Here’s why…
Everyone’s doing it!
Emraan’s USP is heavy liplocks. Kissing on screen used to be a big deal when he first started out, but now every other actor is doing it, with as much gusto. The smoochers include: Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh… Even Shah Rukh Khan who had sworn never to lock lips with an actress on the big screen, too agreed to do not one but three kisses with Katrina Kaif in Jab Tak Hai Jaan. With on-screen smooching losing its novelty, it’s no longer something unique to Emraan.
Serial kisser to serial hisser?
His uncle and producer Mukesh Bhatt, who gave the actor a break and followed it with many successful movies, agrees, “The whole ‘serial kisser’ thing doesn’t work anymore. Everyone is doing it. Also, it’s not just about him kissing an actress. It has to be done in the right manner. The entertainment value and the music of his past films have worked wonders for him.” With four movies that have fared badly, Emraan is now banking on Ungli with Dharma production. Followed by Mr X, produced by the Bhatts, with whom he has a hit record. Emraan’s bald avatar in the film that uncle Mahesh Bhatt tweeted created quite hungama. Maybe that is what is needed. Emraan has been reduced to a one-trick pony. He has to show the audiences that he is capable of more. Mr X will be followed by another Bhatt production — Hamari Adhuri Kahani — opposite Vidya Balan directed by Mohit Suri. “Emraan will bounce back big with them,” says Mukesh confidently.
The dream team
Emraan began his career and has given his biggest hits with the Bhatt banner. So all eyes are on their next film together. Mukesh Bhatt is sure that their forthcoming ventures will have a good run at the box office. He says, “Why did the combination Rajesh Khanna-Shakti Samanta, Amitabh Bachchan-Manmohan Desai, Shah Rukh Khan-Yash Chopra work? It’s because of the great team that they made together. Similarly Emraan Hashmi and Bhatts is a combination that always works at the box office.” The fact that Emraan’s last four movies haven’t set the cash registers ringing doesn’t bother him. Bhatt adds, “Success of the actors worry those who work with stars. We never work with stars. We have made Emraan. He is a part of the family. He started out with us and we’ve always worked well together. Vishesh films is like China, we don’t depend on support from others. We rely on stories, music and content to make our movies work.