More than two decades into his career, Emraan Hashmi remains one of Bollywood’s most recognisable faces, yet the serial kisser label from his early years continues to trail him. In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, the Taskaree star spoke candidly about how the tag came to define a phase of his journey, how he leaned into it, and why he eventually chose to move on.
Hashmi made his acting debut with Footpath in 2003, but it was Murder (2004) that turned him into a household name. His pairing with Mallika Sherawat and the film’s bold romantic moments sparked widespread conversation, quickly cementing his bad boy image. As thrillers and sensual dramas followed, the actor became synonymous with intense roles and on-screen intimacy. A perception he admits was strategically amplified.
Looking back, Hashmi acknowledged that the image worked in his favour at the time. Speaking on the same he said, “I think this is not something that’s very specific to me as an actor. It’s happened to many people in the West. You’ve seen comic actors who probably have a problem breaking through. The classic example is Jim Carey. So I think people like to slot you.”
However, repetition eventually led to creative fatigue. Hashmi explained that audience preferences evolve every decade or so, and characters can only be stretched to a certain limit. He shared, “They were commercial successes, and I was also raking in that image. We were playing up to it through the marketing. The press was in on it.”
Realising that his familiar mould had reached saturation, he felt it was essential to pivot before being boxed in permanently. That moment marked a conscious decision to reinvent himself.
The shift was reflected in projects like Jannat, Awarapan and Shanghai, where he explored layered, character-driven performances. Despite these efforts, Hashmi notes that the shadow of his earlier image still resurfaces, especially in public interactions.
Speaking on wanting to break away from this image, he explained, “After a decade of doing it, I realised that the audience changes. They say, every 10 to 14 years, it switches. The next generation comes to the theatres. It’s very important to reinvent yourself for that fresh audience. And every character, every mould, reaches the saturation point. You can only juice it out as much. And I realised I juiced it to the hilt, yeah. So it was very important to me to switch.”
