When writer Mahesh Bhatt first approached his nephew Emraan Hashmi about a role in a film about unrequited love he was planning to write, the actor politely declined. But two years later, when Bhatt, a noted director himself, sat Hashmi down again and convinced him to listen to his narration of a draft, he moved the actor to tears.
“He came over to my house and sat me down and I just couldn’t help myself. I have never shed tears while listening to a narration,” Hashmi recalls. “So I said yes. If a first draft could move me this way, I thought it was going be just the film I was looking for.”
Although not new to romantic films, Hashmi is best known for his erotic thrillers, which have firmly established him as Bollywood’s go-to ladies’ man. Subsequent attempts to do comedy and action, like his April release, Mr X, haven’t done much to change that.
Hamari Adhuri Kahani (Our incomplete story), he’s hoping, will flip the script for him.
“In a sense, this film marks a new phase in my career,” he says. “I’ve had a fantastic 12 years in the industry, I’ve had some success and I’ve learned that your needs from roles changes at some point. And that needs to reflect in the work you’re doing.
“I had a rebellious phase. Now I am more responsible. But that needs to manifest on screen. And this film came at the right time for me. At this point in my life, I want to do films with more emotions than big spectacles. I want to do films that stand the test of time.”
Directed by Mohit Suri, Hamari Adhuri Kahani (HAK) reunites Hashmi with Vidya Balan, with whom he was last seen in Ghanchakkar (2013) and The Dirty Picture (2012). They play star-crossed lovers who are torn apart by their circumstances. Indian National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao also plays a pivotal role in the film.
Hashmi says he had to dig deep emotionally to bring out the maturity the role demanded.
“My character has many layers and [is] very nuanced. He’s someone who means well but he’s looking for happiness in all the wrong places,” he explains. “There are about six or seven very emotional scenes when my character breaks down. It had to be done just right. And it’s not something you can switch on off. You need to really feel it.”
That’s when things got a bit personal, he says.
In January last year, Hashmi’s then four-year-old son Ayaan was diagnosed with kidney cancer. While filming for HAK hadn’t commenced then, production of Mr X had to be delayed as Hashmi and his wife Parveen Shahani, rushed their only child to Canada for treatment.
Hashmi has spoken about his personal struggles during the treatment, and how he almost gave everything up when his film commitments required him to report back to work. Ayaan was declared cancer free in August.
“Any kind of tragedy and life-changing experience makes it even more fulfilling to do these kind of roles,” says Hashmi. “Because you are able to connect somewhere with that very real experience you’ve had and make the emotions much more personal.”
He says he shares a natural chemistry with Balan, whom he describes as an amazing actress.
“We didn’t know each other very well when we did The Dirty Picture, and we only had about two scenes together. But there was a tremendous response from the audience that we thought we should one day do an out-and-out romantic film.”
In HAK, Hashmi plays a hotel magnate who falls in love with a florist, played by Balan, who’s still married to her abusive husband. The film was extensively shot in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The UAE had the perfect kind of romanticism that was essential to the plot, says director Suri.
“There’s the perfect mix of Western-style development infused with a lot of Indian-ness, which is where the two central characters meet. Most people come to the UAE to shoot amazing buildings and show a futuristic modern city, but I wanted to capture the romance of the sand dunes, for instance, and the beauty of the desert rose.”
Suri and the cast were in Dubai in October last year to film around Dubai’s Shaikh Zayed Road, the Dubai International Airport, Bur Dubai and the Dubai Creek. They returned again in November to shoot at the city’s Miracle Garden and at the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort in Abu Dhabi.
Suri, who is also Hashmi’s cousin, says he immediately said yes to HAK after reading the first draft.
“There are films that entertain you and then there are films that stay with you long after you’ve seen in. HAK is the kind of film that connects to your emotional state, touches you and lasts a long, long time,” he says.
Even men are unabashedly shedding tears at previews, he adds, laughing.
“This is the kind of film that doesn’t belong to me or Emraan or Vidya. It belongs to the characters. Every one will connect with the story to some stage in their lives, personalising it in some way. And I think that’s really touched a chord.”
Go to see the film with an open mind, says Suri, “And lots of tissues”.
Don’t miss it!
Hamari Adhuri Kahani releases in the UAE on June 11.
