Gurmeet Choudhary recently had fans asking for more as they saw him take to the dance floor with the item number Alif Se in the recently released film, Mr X. Composed and rendered by Ankit Tiwari, the song was choreography by Raju Khan. The actor recalls being pleasantly surprised when Mukesh Bhatt, one of the film's producers, call him to the studio and asked him to perform the item number. Gurmeet said, “I was busy finishing my schedule of Khamoshiyan, when Mukeshji called. It was just perfect because my song in Khamoshiyan had become a hit, and this is another feather in my cap.“

Considering item numbers are usually about beautiful women and sensuous moves, when asked how Gurmeet connected with this song, he said, “It's good that even men can lend glamour to item songs. Alif Se is a peppy number unlike the romantic tracks that the production house churns out.It was three days of hard work - shooting in the day and practising at night.“

Mr. X, directed by Vikram Bhatt, is an out-and-out fun-filled entertainer. The filmmmaker says, “I was always fascinated by an invisible hero breaking the law, and I was also inspired by the Krishna story. For me, Mr. X is the hand of God who doesn't understand or care for the law; he just thinks about what is right and what is wrong.“

In this thriller, Emraan Hashmi portrays Raghuram Rathod, a righteous officer with the anti-terrorist squad, who is almost killed in the line of duty. But destiny wills that he come back later as Mr. X - an invisible superhero, who can be seen in direct sunlight and blue neon light in the night. “This film is lot of fun and Emraan is at his naughtiest, albeit in a different way. It's not that he's not kissing a girl but that is not the focus of the film,“ continues Vikram, further adding, “Emraan has evolved as an actor. He's moved to the next generation as he realises there is a younger generation that has come up.“

Besides the invisibility factor, the film being in 3D format, technologically it was a difficult film to shoot. Speaking on the challenge, the director, who has made a few movies in this format, adds, “It required a lot of planning at the pre-production stage. But we decided to have fun with the format. At a time when it is becoming difficult to bring people to theatres, 3D is certainly a differentiating factor that you won't get at home.“

Mr . X, produced by Vishesh Films and presented by Fox Star Studios, releases today.

Emraan Hashmi faced the toughest emotional test of his life last year. A four-year-old son Ayaan detected with cancer just three days before him having to start shooting for his upcoming 3D entertainer Mr X. While his fighter-son battled his cancer with the help of Batman (his father's voice on his mobile which he believes is a real man, a man who saved him from that dreaded disease), his father stayed away from his son for three-and-a-half months to complete his professional commitments. His film Raja Natwarlal bombed at the box office, but Emraan continued to do what he was committed to and believed in. Ayaan today is back to being fit and Emraan is looking forward to his upcoming releases. Over an hour-long conversation at his home, he talks to Bombay Times about the dilemma of being a father and a professional, what he learnt from Ayaan and how he has started praying every night now. Excerpts:

Given that your son Ayaan was detected with cancer just a few days before you were to shoot Mr. X last year, how difficult was it for you to shoot the film?
We were to start shooting Mr X on January 16 last year and on January 13, the problem happened with Ayaan and the schedule was pushed ahead indefinitely. I realised that I had to juggle between two things, the role as a father and the role as a professional and that too was very important. So, as much as there are people around for you, everyone has their own kitchens to run, so everyone's life goes on. I had to take a call on whether to be with Ayaan for six months for his treatment or not. My wife Parveen and I decided that we settle her in Toronto, get the chemotherapy going and a month after his operation, I return to work. Ayaan is a fighter and thankfully, his body took the chemo very well without adverse reactions, and I flew back a month later on Valentine's Day and we started shooting. It had been a tough call for me to say a goodbye to Ayaan and take a flight back. I had to lie to him that I was going to get him gifts, but I knew that I was actually going away to shoot for three-and-a-half months. I tried in between to go back to Toronto, but couldn't due to my commitments. I was shooting here, but my mind was constantly there. You understand that nothing really prepares you for something like your son having cancer. The plus point of being in the movies is that you can escape for those couple of hours that you are on a film set. But you can never forget it, as it is always at the back of your mind. You don't consciously think about it, but you carry it everywhere you go. You kind of learn to live with it, you learn to put it on the back burner, but suddenly, it surfaces again at times when you least expect it to surface. I didn't sleep for three weeks till I came back. I was on sleeping pills. I used to go for bike rides alone at 3 and 4 am in the morning, as I would not get sleep. And then, I would get only an hour or two of sleep. But thankfully, I was not singing or dancing in Mr X, in fact, it was a guy dealing with trauma. So, I was acting out what I was feeling at that point. If you remember, you had come on the first day of shooting to see me at Filmalaya Studio. That first scene was of a guy who almost dies. He is a righteous ATS officer, who is brutally injured by this group of people to the point of death. He almost dies, but then he takes this particular medicine that gives him a new lease of life, but it's not the life he imagines, his cells stop reflecting life and he is almost invisible. It's a man who is defeated and is the story of his resurrection.

In a sense, your personal story is also one of resurrection at this point in your career?
You could say that. I believe that in everyone's life, where success or trauma can change you, it's important that you deal with both in a way that is not self-destructive. There was this rise I kind of had two years back when my films were successful, and then there was this lull where four of my back-to-back films did not work at the box office. There is a side of the industry that is always jumping at writing an actor's obituary, writing you off, which is nothing new to me. I never ever confuse what these people think of my career or my self-worth with what I actually think about myself. I have tremendous confidence that things will bounce back, that I will bounce back with great successful films. The same people did not think that I will last for even two years in this industry. But I have lasted for over a decade. These are the same people who thought that after five back-to-back hits, I had all the answers and I was hit man Hashmi and I was invincible, but they were wrong even then. So, if they didn't know that then, then what the hell do they know now? You have no choice but to embrace the sadness and the pain when you go through something like this. The trauma becomes a part of you. The dream that you have built for yourself suddenly crumbles and you realise that it is so fragile. And there is nothing you can do to stop it, so you cope with it and fight and as much as people may think they are your bad and weakest times, you are fighting the highest at such times and there lies the resurrection and it instills in that dream more vigour and vitality and something more emerges. Something else has emerged and it will reflect in my performances over the next few months. And I want to tell my detractors in the industry, there are four phases in any celebrity's life. The first phase when the world says, 'Oh! He has potential.' The second phase is, 'Ah! He has arrived.' The third phase, 'Oh! He's finished.' And then comes the fourth phase, 'Ah! He is back.' So, for the myopic morons, who don't know anything about inner strength, wait for a couple of months. I will be back.

Doesn't failure make you doubt yourself? Where do you get your confidence from?
I do get anxious if I have a flop, but I don't lose sleep over it. I detach from things and that is true for both, success and failure. I don't let both define me. It's a journey, I may pop a champagne bottle for success, but I don't start feeling cat's whiskers or that I am invincible. Somewhere down the line, I will give you a bad flop film once in a while. Everyone does that. Even more so in my situation, as I see myself as a risk-taker. I have done many films that are unconventional and out-of-the-box niche films. Always remember what Robert De Niro said while getting his lifetime achievement award. He said, 'I am accepting this, but this is not the end. A lot more bad films to be made.' That's what filmmaking is about. As an actor, you get scripts you like and you take a swing at everything, some of them turn out as gems, some of them turn out in the crash can. But every film is made with the best intent. Some are successes, but you cannot be bogged down by that.

What should we expect from a Mr. X?
It's not a superhero film. Superheroes are kind of altruistic as in they are selfless, they are the protectors of humanity and very righteous in what they do. This man is not. He is a right cop, who wants to avenge his own revenge to get his parallel justice to get back to the guys who did it to him. Yes, he is a superhero as he has superhero powers of being invincible. Mr .X promises all of that and a great love story in the middle of it. Amyra Dastur's character is that of an ATS officer and while his ideologies have changed overnight, she still upholds the law and so they are opposite sides of the spectrum and they become enemies, but even being a cold-blooded murderer, he feels for her.

What is your biggest lesson from Ayaan's incident?
Even in my career, I have fallen and come back, but Ayaan has taught me a lot. I have realised that it is okay to fall. It's okay to fail. He is very resilient and is fit now. Three months after his recovery, he started going to school and wanted to participate in sports day in a race. He was still weak and frail, had lost his thick crop of hair (which has now returned) and while we didn't want him to run, he is competitive and was adamant. He participated and the race started. He ran three steps and fell and he got up. He again ran five steps and fell even harder this time. Again he got up and ran and he finished the race. I looked at Parveen and could not help feeling moved, as I could not control my tears. He came last and still went to everyone saying I participated. For me, it was more than any gold medal or first prize. He had given all that he had with all the obstacles he had faced and that was a big learning lesson for me. There is nothing special about me when this child after such a traumatic experience, can get up, complete the race and smile. He actually winked at me when he finished. It was too much for me to handle and I left from there. My wife went and got him. In life, it's all about hanging in there. However shaken your feet, however much you are bruised, you crawl, hop, but get up and take that first step, that's what I learnt from him. After every hurdle I have faced, it's become more clear to me that we need to embrace life with all its tears, screams, the anger, the pain, the shame, because they all demand to be felt. And every time I fall, I have promised myself that however shaky my feet, I will get up. It's only after a disaster that you are resurrected.

Who was your emotional anchor during his treatment period?
Family and friends were an immense support, but I grieve alone. I don't show my emotions and cover it up with external bravado, but there are times when you feel frail. After Ayaan's incident, I have started praying at night which I never used to.

Amyra Dastur, 21, is honest, sensitive and simple. She dislikes confrontation and still carries the remnants of rejection she faced in school, due to her boyish looks. She appears to be dominating but that is more like her defence. Ahead of her upcoming film Mr X, she talks to Bombay Times about her emotionally tough years in Cathedral, why her brother Jehangir is her soulmate and how she is seriously dating a non-industry man. Excerpts:

How did you become an actor?
I am a full Parsi born and brought up in South Mumbai. My mum was an advertising professional till she had me and my dad is a surgeon and is the director of Bhatia Hospital. I went to Cathedral School till I was 13, post which my brother Jehangir (who is a year younger to her) and I were both packed off to a boarding school in Pune, so that we could learn to behave ourselves as we were both very naughty. Over one of the weekends, I was at a friend's house there, when I was trying to get through to my mother, but she did not answer. I got so irritated that the next thing I knew was, that I had smashed my wrist into a glass table in front of me and damaged my wrist very badly. That's how angry I used to be as a kid. So, I had to be rushed back to Mumbai as my dad wanted to do the surgery in Mumbai and after that I was rushed off to England for physiotherapy, as my uncle is a doctor there. I was moved back to Mumbai into Dhirubhai Ambani school, but lost a year as I could not write for nine months, so I had to drop a class. I always wanted to be an actor and started modelling for various commercials when I was 16 and when I was in Class XII, got Issaq through auditioning. I had to decide between doing Issaq and continuing school and I chose Issaq. We know what happened with Issaq, but I got a call from Mukeshji (Mukesh Bhatt) for Mr X. I sat with Bhatt sahab for 45 minutes and he found a lot of similarity with the girl's character in Mr X and me in real life. I met Vikram Bhatt the next day and was on for Mr X.

You have worked with Prateik, Dhanush and now, Emraan Hashmi. Who did you connect the most with?
Emraan is damn funny, has the bitchiest sense of humour and is very sarcastic. He is not fake at all and is a very real person. Dhanush is the most humble person to work with. If he likes you, he will be really nice to you and if he doesn't, be careful as he would then take your trip. But it's normally very difficult to piss him off, as he is a very nice person. I connected the most with Prateik, as we were of the same age. He has the shortest temper. And while we were friends, we have now drifted apart and are not in touch.

Are you seriously dating anyone right now?
Yes, but no one from the industry.

Does marriage figure in your life?
Not before 30. That's why I love my mom as she wants me and my brother to live our lives and get married only after 30. Dad came from a very poor family and he made it on his own, working really hard. He paid all his medical education loans off even before we were born. He takes pride in that and he is literally a self-made man. He was worried about me wanting to become an actress, as he knew that it would mean a lot of struggle and he would not be able to help me. But my mum was the one who told me to drop my education when I got Issaq. I asked her what she would do and she said, 'Just drop it as it is your dream.' Even though my mom's parents were loaded, they were never supportive of what she wanted to do. I am not a big fan of my mum's side of my family, as they are very snobbish. They wanted her to do what they wanted and not what she wanted. She always says that I will never be like my mother and with me, I always say that I want to be a mother like my mother. She has been there with me through everything. She has given me and my brother a chance to do what we wanted to do and not what she wanted us to do.

Who do you love the most in the world?
My brother Jehangir. He is now becoming a chef and is one of my best friends. He was with me ever since I opened my eyes. He is my other side. I am more protective and possessive about him, more than he is about me. He likes the fact that I don't take shit from anyone and that I am really funny, goofy funny. I don't mind behaving unladylike and have this habit of saying the stupidest crap at the worst time. I was a short kid, my height kicked in only when I was 16. Because me and my brother were best friends, I would dress like him and behave like him. I had really short hair and buck teeth with braces. I looked like a boy. I was happy with myself, but other kids would bully me to an extent that I would just come home and cry. I would just switch on my TV and a good English movie was my escape. Movies inspired me. I loved movies. I was also fantastic in my studies. Jehangir has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Basically, he was a hyperactive kid and his concentration does not last for more than 15 minutes. His intelligence is insane, just that he does not have his concentration span. I would never cry in front of the other kids, but I would go in the loo and cry and became an angry kid. And that is why I misbehaved a lot with my mother. It was only when I went to boarding school, when I shared the room with two older girls and saw how they treated me like a girl, wanting to dress me up, that I started feeling like a girl.

Are you anxious?
After Issaq, I feel anxious about every film I do now. I remember I saw Issaq on the opening night and I was shattered. It was not that it was a good film and that it did not do well, it was not a good film. Within the first five minutes of seeing it, I knew it was not going to be nice. I had my whole family there luckily, but it is hard when at the end people start that slow clap, you know that it is a pity applause. It was heartbreaking.

Who do you want to work with?
My dream is to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Right from the time I started watching Hindi films, it was his films that I watched. Guzaarish is one of my favourite films.

Did you have a low point in life?
Yes, I am undergoing therapy right now. After this interview, I am going to meet my psychiatrist. I feel very depressed at times. Talking to my therapist helps me if something is upsetting me. I overthink everything. Last year, I developed a fear of flying. It reached a point that I would literally get panic attacks on the plane. I would start sweating, my hands would become ice cold and I couldn't breathe. It was linked to a fear of failing.

How much does a therapist charge?
They meet you for an hour and charge you anything from Rs 2,000-4,000 for a session.

Who is your emotional anchor?
My brother who is more rational than I am and my best friend. I cannot go to my mother, as she will panic.

Did you feel scared going to a therapist?
I did feel scared in the beginning, but not now. They are bound by law and can lose their licence if they divulge your details. Luckily, they are very professional. I do feel comfortable going to mine, as she gets to the root of the issue and at least I know what is troubling me.

What does this word depression mean?
It means that it is a struggle getting out of bed every day. You wake up feeling that life is so monotonous. And so, while at times, you may feel good to go, at times you don't. Happiness seems temporary when you are under depression. And if you don't help yourself, it can get on to full-on depression, where you can sit in your house and just chill and not do anything.You isolate yourself as you don't want to see anyone and feel upset about life. Right now, I am just happy if I can get through my day without feeling sad or upset.

Where is that core of rejection coming from?
That has to be from high school. Can you imagine I have no friends from Cathedral? And that was till I was 13. Everyone made fun of me while I would just sit there. I have never been a confrontation person so would never attack back. Jehangir was a year younger and he too was made fun of, as he too was suffering from ADD. Them making fun of us made us both stronger and closer to each other. We would sit in the bus together and would always be together. That's what made him understand me. He understands me better than anyone, as he has seen me through everything.

Are you stubborn?
Very, but that is when I know I am right. I am also very honest. Being in the industry, I am now aware that things inside are so different than what it seems from outside. People really say something and mean something else. Don't pretend to like me if you don't. That's so high school. That's what this industry is, so high school.

Unlike many of his B-town colleagues, the 36-year old actor is punctual to the T, casually dressed in a grey tee and jeans, and ready for every googly bowled at him. Excerpts:

The Bhatts' have always been honest about their muses. So why deny that Mr. X has been inspired by Hollywood films like Hollow Man and The Invisible Man and Bollywood films like Mr India and the original Ashok Kumar-starrer Mr. X?
Yes, it is inspired from these films in the sense that Mr X is about an invisible man but that's where the similarity ends. So far, there've been only around six films in the world on this subject. And that's just the icing on the cake for Mr. X. There's also VFX and the 3D effects... Sometimes I flicker; sometimes I'm seen in parts. The film is in its own space when it comes to its treat ment of my invisibility.

So, you're saying the process makes the concept original?
It's a story of resurrection unlike the previous films. It's the revenge of a man from the anti-terrorist squad who is burnt in a refinery. The radiation hits him and his cells stop reflecting light. Hollow Man is a lab experiment gone wrong while Mr. India is about Mogambo and a cat-and-mouse chase. In contrast, Mr. X is a love story gone sour. From being colleagues in an anti-terrorist squad, the story turns into a woman hunting down her lover.

What was the shoot like?
I have to admit I was completely lost. I had a fair idea about my role but I had no idea about the effect on screen. It's insane what special effects can do. I was walk ing through fire and smoke and later I dissolved from those scenes.

Your co-star, Amyra Dastur, is just one flop old. A lot is riding on your shoulders?
I've made hit films with new girls. I was a newcomer once too and I know what it's like to work extra hard for something. Sometimes even actors with a huge fan followings cannot make a film work. The success of a film depends on a lot of factors, including talent. A new face could do wonders for a role. Amyra holds her ground and has played the character well.

After Jacqueline Fernandez and Kareena Kapoor opted out of the Azharuddin biopic, you'll probably have a newcomer playing Sangeeta Bijlani in the film?
(Smiles) That's the director's call. I just get on the sets and say my lines. If the film has an established actress, it will have more bums on the seat on a Friday. But I believe that a new animal in the zoo can also attract crowds.

The 'Serial Kisser' tag seems to have left you...
(Smiles) Yes, finally!

Yet you're still locking lips with your co-stars?
(Sighs) The tag has become redundant because kissing is no longer unacceptable. Every film has a liplock these days, it's no big deal!

But this time your five-year-old son, Ayaan, will be watching your film, for the first time ...
(Smiles) At home we don't encourage television, I'd rather Ayaan read or go out to play. He watches the promos of my film sometimes and even that worries me. Now he will be watching an entire film for the first time and I'm a nervous wreck!

There nothing 'celebrity-like' about you once you are off the sets...
(Chuckles) Yes, well, none of my friends are from the film industry.

That is exactly what your Hamari Adhuri Kahani co-star, Vidya Balan, told Mirror recently (February 3, 2015)...
(Laughs) That's what Mohit (director Mohit Suri) says all the time. “You guys are the same person,“ he teases us. I agree, Vidya and I have the same preferences and as we are like-minded people we end up working together to create good films. But Vidya is more 'filmi' than me. She would go to an award function, I'd never do that. She always wanted to be an actor, I never wanted to be one. I'm an extremely private person and at the other end of the line, when it comes to Bollywood personalities.

Yes, you pop up on Twitter two weeks before the release of your film, then, you are off the social media for months...
I like to step away from being 'The Emraan Hashmi' when I'm not on a film set. The 10,000 likes on something random I wrote, does not interest me at all. Tweeting about where I am or what I'm eating never crosses my mind. I hate that kind of limelight!

DNA (April 5, 2015)

While the Censor Board has been mired in controversies for the past few months, here's another severe blow to the CBFC. Filmmaker Ashoke Pandit has allegedly accused Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani of illegally withholding Emraan Hashmi's upcoming film- Mr X.

Calling Nihalani an 'anarchist', Ashoke Pandit slammed the CBFC Chief by exposing the reality in a series of tweets on Saturday.

Not just that, the filmmaker and social activist also claimed that Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt lost almost Rs 60 lacs for the 'unnecessary delay of their film'.

Previously, Pandit had criticised Nihalani's way of working while in a Facebook post, he had also exposed the rifts that exists within the panel. The Censor Board recently sparked protests after they issued a list of cuss words that they decided to ban from films. The Censor Board recently was again criticised for beeping the word 'lesbian' from YRF's Dum Laga Ke Haisha and for banning 'Unfreedom'- a film that dealt with homosexuality and religion.

Seems the trouble for the Censor Board and its Chief has no signs of an end any soon.

With great candour, Emraan Hashmi admits he'd like to rob a bank were he to become invisible. With greater candour, he admits there might be something about his face that makes filmmakers repeatedly cast him as a law-breaking conman. In a chat with us during his recent visit to our office with co-star Amyra Dastur, the Mr X actor says he's hoping people appreciate the 'shareef ' side of him in upcoming films. Excerpts from the conversation:

How hard was it shooting the `invisible' scenes in Mr X with one person absent, especially for you, Amyra?
Amyra: There was no one. Nothing. Air. And water! Which I choked on - it was quite funny. In (the filming of the song) Tu Jo Hai - that (the invisible man) is completely CG. There was no one there, no green suit or anything. They gave me a point, like a red tape, in the water tank, and we'd planned out the shot - I'd swim down, look at the mark, close my eyes and get into the kiss. When that happened for the first time, I just glugged back a lot of water, and when I came up, I was coughing and you could see water coming out of my nose. It was really ... beautiful shot though - we got it right when I figured out how to hold my breath properly .

Was it excessively hard to be responding to an absence?
Amyra: It was really hard because this isn't generically acting, it's reacting. It's easier when - especially during an angry scene - it's easier to have him (Emraan) yelling back at me. That way my reaction becomes more real. Rather than just yelling at no one, we'd have the AD (assistant director) read out his lines and create the same kind of emotion. But each time, we shot with Emraan first, so at least I knew how high I have to go to get that same kind of feeling.

How about you, Emraan? Did they hook you up to electrodes?
Amyra: Oh, he wore the green suit once and then decided to never do it again!
Emraan: No, I come and go, because the concept is that he's seen in blue light, neon light, in direct sunlight, so many of the sequences were shot with me. But then, in portions where I'm not supposed to be there in the shadows, there was another person, a double, in a green suit. I didn't have to be in it. I wore the suit once to make Amyra happy, she wanted to have some laughs...
Amyra: I didn't want anyone else to carry me (in a sequence where the invisible man is carrying her in his arms).
Emraan: Some of the sequences, yes, where I was not there for, like, 30 seconds, were shot completely with the guy in the green suit, and then I could go shopping in Cape Town or go somewhere for dinner or do my own thing. It's good, actually, to do a film where you're invisible.

In real life, if you were to be invisible, what would you like to do?
Emraan: Unethical things or ethical things? I'll start with the unethical things. Some of them I can't talk about - the mind is, er, going into a lot of areas - but rob a bank, that's something I've always wanted to do, it's been my childhood dream. I've thought about it a lot, I've planned it all out in my head, but it hasn't happened. Robbing Mukeshji (Mukesh Bhatt, his uncle and the producer of Mr X) would also be fun, but there's probably more money in the bank. The other would probably be copying in my exams in school. Then, going to places I couldn't go when I was below 18 - sometimes abroad you can't get into clubs... and some other places also.
Amyra: I'd slap a couple of people I've been meaning to slap for a while - haven't you dreamed of slapping that one person without getting caught? I'd spy on a couple of people too.

The film reminds one a lot of Mr India...
Emraan: The similarity starts and ends with the invisibility. There's nothing else in common. I know the screenplay of Mr India - I loved it, I think Shekhar Kapur made a fantastic film. It's very well done, very high-concept for its time. As a kid, I saw it at least 15 times. But the story is completely different. This character is slightly darker. He's not the quintessential superhero. I wouldn't really put it into that zone in this first film. And you can see him (Mr India) in red light - our thing is slightly different. But the love story and the entire theme is different.

You've said you want your son to watch this film. No matter how complicated or dark a character Mr X is, there must be something positive at the end of his journey, or you wouldn't show it to your son...
Emraan: Yes. Every film has to have - especially if it's for a family audience, kids - it has to have a positive end. It has to sum up - morally, it has to somewhere seem right and there has to be some redemption for the character. For this character also, there is redemption, you realise his point of view. You might not see his point of view through the film, because if I had to make an observation and connect any other superhero film, they still don't go into the darker zone. In Spiderman, there is the Black Spiderman who is the villain. Mr X is that character, he is the guy who wouldn't mind putting a bullet into someone's head. But that changes because of love. He becomes a cold-blooded murderer, but there's still a side of him that is human, that still loves the woman.

Why should one go and see Mr X?
Emraan: I think for the experience. I have grown up watching films like Chhota Chetan, which was this great 3D experience with spectacular VFX. There's the invisible man, it's high-concept. These things I guess are a more immersive experience. Even if it's not in 3D, you will love the journey of this invisible man. You will realise it when you see a film like this, the way he gets back at these people when he's invisible is a lot of fun. Apart from that, another philosophical take like any other superhero film is that it's the story of a phoenix, a person who overcomes his limitations. His hurdle is invisibility in the beginning, he lives with the trauma. He doesn't shrug it away, he rises above the moment and becomes a hero at the end of it. Narrative-wise, it is a very gripping story.

Murder's done 11 years this year, which means you are about as old as that in the industry. Are you where you wanted to be in 11 years?
Emraan: You know, I don't know how people answer (this). I will be honest. For me, it's a struggle. You are just happy to get the next film or you are happy your film is a hit. You just make the most of it and move on to the next thing. Obviously, somewhere there's this very vague idea of where we kind of want to see our life. But it's a blurry picture. In the beginning, it was just getting the stuff you want and not thinking too much about it, just doing it. But then you start realising, I have done this. Let's try something else. There are small goals that you set for yourself as an actor every year, every two years, every five years, those keep changing. Now the goal for me would be reinvention. Post Mr X, in Hamari Adhuri Kahani, in Azhar, hopefully you will see an Emraan that you have never seen before in the 10 years you have seen me.

In this journey, have you ever thought that people prefer to see you as a bad guy, or a naughty guy?
Emraan: All the time! But the thing is, the audience doesn't know what they want till you give it to them. They'll keep thinking that this is what they want till suddenly the right film at the right time comes along, and they wake up and say, 'Oh! We've never seen him this way, and we like this also', I am waiting for that to happen. They've seen me in these devious characters. He's always the bad guy who breaks the law. There's something in my face that says criminal, devil, will-break-the-law, drug dealer, or gun runner, or bookie (laughs). I won't talk about this right now, but there's this shareef guy that you will see soon this year. It'll probably be a victory on my part if I play that convincingly. Mr X is still in the grey zone. It has technical wizardry and VFX, but he's still an outlaw kinda guy.

Amyra, why did you choose this as your second Hindi film?
Amyra: In Issaq, I was playing a Banarasi village girl, and here I am playing a sort of cold-hearted girl. It's completely different and I wanted to show some versatility. The good thing is that this will prevent me from getting stereotyped in my career and that is exactly what I want.

Emraan Hashmi's son Ayaan has now turned five. While he loves his father and has loved movies since he was born, Emraan chose to not show him his earlier films due to the kisses in them. Mr . X is a family film, where Emraan plays an invisible man (a vigilante who takes up the law in his hand only to protect it). Ayaan has been a big superhero fan and believes that there actually exists a Batman in real life. Ayaan had fortunately been early detected for cancer as a result of which, he is now completely cured and is back to school. Emraan knows that his son will be the most difficult audience to please and that is why he is so anxious, as he knows that Ayaan's benchmark is obviously going to be Batman and that is unreal, as Mr . X is not a superhero film. But Emraan is hoping that seeing his father in his invisible avatar and that too in 3D, will hopefully get Ayaan's approval.

Emraan Hashmi and Amyra Dastur's sizzling chemistry can be seen in the Mr. X song, You Can Call Me X, sung by the film's producer Mahesh Bhatt himself. Emraan plays an invisible man in this engaging film directed by Vikram Bhatt. He is seen as a vigilante, who is out to seek revenge on the people who have wronged him. He will romance the sexy Amyra in the glam music video that was released yesterday. The song also marks Mahesh Bhatt's singing debut. His actress-daughter Alia Bhatt, who was most excited about this development, took to a micro-blogging site to write, 'It runs in the family'.

Mr . X, produced by Vishesh Films and presented by Fox Star Studios, releases April 17 in 3D and 2D.