Mumbai: Better known for his romantic and casanova image so far, actor Emraan Hashmi says his latest film Shanghai has changed the perception of people about him and now he wants to play unpredictable roles.
“In Shanghai a new Emraan Hashmi was showcased. For me, this film has reconstructed the perception that people had about me. After this whatever role I play, it should be as unpredictable as this. I want to surprise the audience,” Hashmi told reporters here last evening.
Emraan is seen sporting a paunch and buck tooth and is dark complexioned in Dibakar Banerjee’s political thriller Shanghai. He also shed his “serial kisser” image as there is no such scene in the movie. “I want to be an actor who presents his films to everyone. We know there is a divided audience. Some actors are safe and cater to one particular set of audience. But I really respect Dibakar for making a film like Shanghai. He took the risk of making something totally different. The praise that I have got for Jogi Parmar, I have hardly ever heard such praise in my career. After Shanghai, I would want to do more films like this,” he said.
Shanghai revolves around the greed and corruption of politicians, and boasts of an ensemble cast comprising Kalki Koechlin, Abhay Deol, Emraan and Bengali actor Prosenjit Chatterjee. Released on June 8, the film got swamped by Akshay Kumar starrer Rowdy Rathore as the movie continued to remain a crowd puller and money spinner for its makers.
“Shanghai is a very different film…we have made a film which breaks convention. Box office collection wise, I agree that the film had a slow start on Friday but the jump we got, the response I got on SMS and everything is a win-win situation for the entire team,” Hashmi said.
“This film needs your support so that more such movies can be made. You can’t please everyone…you will have people who love your film and detractors as well. In this case, they haven’t understood the film,” he said.
Meanwhile, director Dibakar Banerjee claims that the film has been faring well at the box office.
“From Monday, we have been making profits. This was our aim and we have done it. ‘Shanghai’ was never made to be the blockbuster of the year. We never thought even this would happen. We spent Rs 12 crore in the making and Rs eight crore in marketing,” he said.
“I have got around 200 messages from people in the industry, my college, school and neighbourhood…they loved the film. The film has impacted people regardless of the fact whether they are actors or normal people like us. There are people who have not liked the film, which is good. If a film polarises people and if they are talking about it, then it can’t be ignored,” Banerjee said. (PTI)