Emraan Hashmi's Indo-American production is the only Indian film in the main competition of the upcoming Busan Film Festival
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 17, 2020)

How did you manage to keep your Indo-American production, Harami, under wraps despite it being shot in Mumbai?
We didn’t want much fuss around the shoot because we were filming guerilla-style in places like CST and Churchgate stations, the Dharavi slums, and on Mumbai streets…

You were filming at CST and Churchgate stations?
I couldn’t, but I did shoot in the crowded Mohammed Ali Road area. And since we didn’t want to attract any attention, I was told I’d have to cover the last 300-400 metres on a bike. Despite the security, I was apprehensive, but delighted that I went completely unrecognised on Mumbai’s streets in my ‘look’ of a 50-year-old man with salt-and-pepper hair, beard and moustache, glasses, and a cane since he walks with a limp. After that, I’d stroll to the location, with my staff 20 steps behind. It was a thrill because when we shot in Dongri for Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, the whole area was cordoned off, with a car parked on the doorstep of the house where we were shooting to whisk me off. This time I could move around freely because Sagar Bhai looked nothing like Emraan. I’ve never played a character this old before.

Your character is a gangster?
He is a former English teacher who does a U-turn to become the ringleader of a gang of young pickpockets who frequent Mumbai locals. So, while everyone around him speaks Bambaiya Hindi, Sagar Bhai chooses to speak in English because he’s tutoring these slum kids in the language too, so they can hoodwink unsuspecting foreign tourists and flick their wallets. It’s heartening that our film will be unveiled at the Busan Film Festival in a tough year. We had wanted to go to Cannes, but Covid-19 complicated things. Busan is very prestigious too.

Having faced censor problems with Why Cheat India earlier, will a title like Harami get passed?
This title is not against the country and the English translation of ‘harami’, which is ‘bastard’, is filed in the Oxford dictionary. I just hope it isn’t misconstrued as a cuss word. We haven’t titled the film Harami for effect; it’s an appropriate title given the subject.

Tigers, the 2014 drama by Oscar-winning director Danis Tanovic, didn’t perform as well as was expected…
That was a controversial subject with a Pakistani protagonist. By the time the film was ready for release, after a few delays, tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated and the film was blasphemous. No distributor would touch it. Thankfully today, Tigers is among the top 5 OTT films. Every film has its own journey.

As an actor, how difficult is it to strike a balance between a Harami and a Mumbai Saga?
I’ve always been a sucker for good content and cinema is all about stories. So, while I’d love to do another connoisseur film, I also want to do a Jannat 3. None of us know what will be accepted; we can only be true to the idea, work hard and with honesty. It’s important for an actor not to get stuck because commercial success can bring complacency.

Mumbai Saga is in the space of Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai, unabashedly commercial and entertaining, playing to the gallery and looking for ceeties and taalis. That kind of cinema will always be my first love.

And Chehre?
That’s a very different film. I’m playing a traveller whose car breaks down and he takes refuge for the night at an outhouse where two men, one pretending to be a public prosecutor and the other a defense lawyer, put him on the dock in their mock courtroom because “behind every successful man is a crime”. It was always my dream to work with Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan, so the script narration was just a formality. It was the same with The Body. I was intrigued by the original Spanish film, but there was also the delight of working with Rishi ji (Kapoor).

Buzz is, you are playing Alia Bhatt’s husband in Gangubai Kathiawadi who sells her into a brothel?
I’ve met Sanjay sir (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) but I haven’t signed the film yet. (Laughs) And it would be bizarre to play my cousin’s husband on screen.

You’re doing a comedy too…
Yes, Sab First Class Hai, which will be directed by Mubarakan and Saand Ki Aankh writer Balwinder Singh Janjua. The script is a riot.

Are you planning on resuming shooting soon?
I can’t sit at home forever as the Coronavirus isn’t going away anytime soon. People are getting reinfected, so even if a vaccine happens, we’ll have to top it up, again and again. We are the most exposed because of our proximity to our co-stars and since we can’t wear masks and PPE suits. Still, I plan to complete Mumbai Saga, Chehre and the horror film Ezra before the year-end before starting new projects next year. It will be shoot, quarantine, shoot…

Reza Noorani (BOMBAY TIMES; July 17, 2015)