Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. Born into the Bhatt family, he began his career an assistant director on the horror film Raaz (2002). He made his acting debut with the crime film Footpath (2003), and gained success for his starring role in the erotic thriller Murder (2004).
Hashmi went on to star in thrillers such as Kalyug (2005) and Gangster (2006). His other critically and commercially successful films include Jannat (2008), Raaz: The Mystery Continues (2009), Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), The Dirty Picture (2011), Murder 2 (2011), Shanghai (2012), Jannat 2 (2012), Raaz 3 (2012) and Ek Thi Daayan (2013). This success was followed by a series of poorly received films and a hiatus.
Early life
Hashmi was born on 24 March 1979, in Mumbai, Maharashtra into a Muslim family. His father, Syed Anwar Hashmi, is a businessman, who also acted in the 1968 film Baharon Ki Manzil, and his mother, Maherrah Hashmi, was a homemaker. His paternal grandfather, Syed Shauqat Hashmi, migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India, while his grandmother, Meherbano Mohammad Ali (known by her screen name Purnima), was an actress, who stayed in India. Meherbano Mohammad Ali later married producer-director Bhagwan Das Varma, making Bhagwan Das Emraan’s step grandfather and Emraan a part of the Varma family. Emraan is also a part of the Bhatt family because Meherbano was the sister of Shirin Mohammad Ali, the mother of producers Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, who are thus Hashmi's uncles. and also relative of Naseem Ismail as known as Remsez Baluch from Lyari Karachi Pakistan is his cousin, Hashmi is the cousin of director Mohit Suri, with whom he has collaborated in several films. His other cousins are actresses Pooja Bhatt and Alia Bhatt, while another cousin is actor Rahul Bhatt. Udita Goswami is his sister-in-law. Hashmi studied at the Jamnabai Narsee School. After graduating from Jamnabai, he attended Sydenham College in Mumbai. Hashmi later earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai.
Career
2003–2007: Debut and breakthrough
Hashmi made his acting debut in 2003, with Vikram Bhatt's thriller Footpath. Co-starring alongside Aftab Shivdasani and Bipasha Basu, he portrayed the role of Raghu Shrivastav, a gangster. His performance in the film was appreciated by critics; Gaurav Malani described him as the "scene-stealer" and praised his mannerisms. The following year he featured in Anurag Basu's erotic thriller Murder with Mallika Sherawat and Ashmit Patel. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama said about his performance: "Emraan Hashmi is fantastic in a role that seems tailor made for him. Enacting the role of an obsessive lover with flourish, there's no denying that the narrative gets a major impetus thanks to Emraan's performance." Murder emerged as a financial success, with a domestic total of , becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year in India.
Hashmi next starred in Anurag Basu's romance, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, opposite Dia Mirza. While shooting the film, Basu was diagnosed with blood cancer, so producer-director Mahesh Bhatt completed it. Although the film did not succeed at the box office, his portrayal of Daksh Mittal (a young millionaire who falls in love with a bargirl) was generally well received. A review of his performance in BBC Online noted that he was "becoming fabulous with every film." Hashmi then took a supporting role in Mohit Suri's thriller Kalyug, alongside Kunal Khemu, Smilie Suri, Amrita Singh, Ashutosh Rana and Deepal Shaw. Based on the sex industry, the film depicted the devastating effect that non-consensual pornographic films have on the subjects. Hashmi featured as Ali Bhai, a man who runs a sex shop. His performance garnered positive reviews from critics, with Taran Adarsh writing: "Emraan Hashmi makes a brief appearance and the actor is, like always, highly competent." Kalyug was a moderate success in India.