Emraan Hashmi turns 45 in two days (March 25). He was all of 24 when he was nudged by his uncle (filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt) to get into films. And there’s been no looking back for him. In a no holds barred chat, the actor admits that his film choices have changed. Hashmi recently earned rave reviews for Showtime. He also had a resurgence of sorts with Tiger 3 (2023).

Ask if he’s in a comfortable space now, professionally, and he says, “I have always been secure, even if I felt my films were not faring well. I believe this industry is fair. If you are a thorough professional and you do your work well, work will eventually flow in. I am in a happy space because of the offers I am getting now. Projects are more acting oriented. I’ve done movies that people found disastrous in my career, like Shanghai (2012) between Murder 2 (2011) and Raaz 3 (2012).”

Hashmi’s earlier string of hits, including Murder (2004), Jannat (2008) and Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010), had intense stories, great soundtracks and kissing scenes. However, Hashmi shocked the audience when he started changing gears. While Ek Thi Daayan (2013) was a horror drama, Why Cheat India? (2019) was about the education system. The time between 2016 to 2023 wasn’t kind, with films such as Ghanchakkar (2013), Raja Natwarlal (2014) and Baadshaho (2017) not working.

He says, “The audience was perhaps shifting. OTT had started creeping in. What really hit me was Why Cheat India not working. I did something different, but since OTT was coming in, people were engaged with that material on the medium. I was hearing chatter like, ‘Films like these are already on OTT’. I didn’t play up to the star. I showcased my acting chops, but people didn’t want to see me doing that. Another film, The Body, was a delayed release. It was a confusing time for me.”

Realizing that the audience was taking to OTT, he gave a nod to the spy series Bard Of Blood (2019) that marked his OTT debut: “It did well. But unfortunately, a second season is not happening. The team had to zone in on a script. It was almost green lit. But none seemed to work. The first season was based on a book, but we couldn’t crack the script for a second one.”

Why didn’t he stick to his template of films and the bad-boy avatar from a commercial point of view? Hashmi explains, “It wouldn’t have done well beyond a point, and it didn’t. The audience is ever-changing. If you keep serving the same meal to the audience, they get fed up. Challenging yourself is what an actor is all about. If you don’t, before you know it, the audience will boo you out.”

He says the young audience from back in the day, who loved his kind of films, are all married now. So he has a new fan base to cater to: “Now there’s a Gen Z, millennial audience. People grow up, a younger audience comes in. Their heroes are different, they watch OTT. I’ll have to give them something new and up my game, else I’d sink.”

Ask if Jannat 3 is happening and Hashmi says, “I’d love to do that. The makers (Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt) have to come together again to make it happen, which I, unfortunately, don’t see happening. If by some stroke of luck or miracle that happens, it’ll happen. Till then, my life goes on. I have a couple of projects that will be announced soon, solo films that have that streak that the audience loved to see me in... as the bad boy. I will try to kick-start that again.”