We become soft targets: Emraan Hashmi

Emraan Hashmi has been having a great run at the box office with back-to-back hits. Nicknamed ‘Hitman Hashmi', the puny star doesn't let fame go to his head. In a candid chat with us, he spoke about stardom, Hollywood and his upcoming projects.

Recently one woman landed at an event of your film and claimed to be your wife, can you tell us what exactly happened?
She came at an event looking for some other Emraan who cheated on her. When she saw me she claimed that I am the same person! Thankfully the police realised that she had registered a complain and was looking for a different person named Emraan Siddiqui. It was a bizarre experience. I have had crazy fan moments but this was really weird.

Was it a publicity stunt?
I don't know if it was but definitely I didn't plan this incident. However I cannot blame anyone if they say it was a stunt. It was not a normal thing to happen but since we are popular figures, we are often at a receiving end. People try to take mileage by creating a controversy around the stars or their films and we become soft targets.

Did you find any difference between the working style of Bollywood and Hollywood director Danis Tanovic?
Danis is very planned and he has been working on the script for the past six years. You won't believe that we finished the film in flat 40 days! During the shoot, he told me that he completed editing of No Man's Land in just seven days. We used to shoot in the morning and he would sit and edit the film at night. He's a real hard working man.

Do you feel that you have been typecast in the thriller genre?
I don't purposely try and do such films but I like this genre and in the future too if a good script is offered, I will not shy away from it. I have already taken a break from horror films and came out of my comfort zone too. I think because of that somehow it has paid me very well as I get to work with different actors and directors.

How do you take criticism?
I don't want critics to praise me although some of them give fairly positive responses to my work. I feel a review is just one person's perception so for me box office success is important as it is finally the public who spend their hard-earned money to go watch a film. However when a film flops it really jolts me. It is the worst phase and at that time, critics points out constructive mistakes too.

What are you working on right now?
In a week's time I will wrap up Karan Johar's next film. Then I will work on his next with Kareena Kapoor. I am really looking forward to work with her as she is definitely one of the best actors we have right now in the industry. I will then work with Vikram Bhatt for his next thriller.u00a0