Emmy: 'Drawn to Dark Characters'

Emraan Hashmi has been having a great run of late. "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" (2010) and "Dil To Baccha Hai Ji" (2011) won him accolades and did decent and modest business; while "Murder 2" (mid-2011) raked in the moolah and further consolidated his resume as the music-friendly star of dark, intense movies.

The actor's clearly having the best of both worlds — that of Vishesh Films, his uncles Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt's banner — and outside productions, where he is getting better and better roles, unlike in the past when most such films attempted outside his home ground were fiascos.

"Yes, I do agree that I am getting to explore the best of Vishesh Films as well as different movies outside," says Emraan over the phone to India-West in a rapid-fire 10-minute interview.

Though he is exploring different films, he is still almost typecast in dark roles. "I admit that I do darker films and prefer dark characters. And it's about the roles that I get; it's not fixed at my level. Maybe I am drawn to such characters."

He adds that he will not do potboilers, senseless comedies, love stories or no-brainer entertainers. Not even to challenge himself as an actor since his sensibilities are different? "No," he says firmly. "They challenge my intellect. I do not mind being a part of a comedy, but it should be a sensible one."

Emraan adds that he enjoyed doing "The Dirty Picture," his second film with Balaji Telefilms and director Milan Luthria. "It's a new kind of film for me. It's about a new world, that of South Indian films of the '80s, and about new relationships," he told India-West.

In the film, Emraan plays a rebellious film director who hates the heroine. "He's a very rigid man, and I have worked with someone like that, so I drew from there. There is a breed like that and they simply do not listen to anyone."

So will he finally end up getting the girl? He is not telling. But he has a lot of respect for Vidya Balan, whom he calls a "sensitive and fine actor," and he admires her for getting into the skin of her character. He shared two sequences with Naseeruddin Shah and declares that Shah is very effortless in the way he just comes on the sets and does his work.

We skip the kiss question this time and ask him whether he has a song in the film, as he is one of the very few musical stars of today. "Yes," he replies. "'Ishq Sufiyana' is my song." As always, Emraan's got the cream.

What next? " 'Shanghai' is complete and it's again a new kind of film for me and my first with Dibakar Banerjee. There is a film called 'Daayan,' that Balaji is co-producing with Vishal Bhardwaj."

Those are outside films. What about the in-house projects? " 'Jannat 2' is happening, and so is 'Raaz 3' in 3D," he replies.

And that's a lot of work indeed for the uber-cool, easygoing Emraan Hashmi.