Emraan Hashmi on Showtime: ‘I play a quintessential Bollywood producer who's a bit of a brat’

Emraan Hashmi as a Bollywood producer on Showtime, streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Emraan Hashmi’s eclectic filmography includes titles such as Murder (2004), Gangster and Jannat. In the first leg of his career, Hashmi was not one to experiment outside the boundaries of thrillers and films about crimes of passion. He once said he was content “playing the bad guy who gets to kiss the girls”. Much changed with Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, The Dirty Picture and the political thriller Shanghai (2012), which made audiences sit up and notice Hashmi as a serious actor. Not averse to taking chances, he appeared in Ek Thi Daayan, Ungli, The Body, Bard of Blood and Tiger 3 in which he played the antagonist. His latest, one of a long line up of releases for 2024, is the Disney+ Hotstar series Showtime in which he plays producer Raghu Khanna.

In this interview, Hashmi spoke about his 20-year-long career and his current slate. Edited excerpts:

You've been in the industry for over 20 years now. What have been some changes, especially from the point of view of an actor?

Gone are the days where you had a star play just this very righteous kind of hero, in a cliched way. I think the audience is more interested in the characters than the stars playing stars. They want you, the star, to experiment with different looks, to do something different and give them variety. I think that is the order of the day. Also with the advent of OTT, the dynamics of consumption and viewership have changed. The audience has become very choosy about what they want to see in theatres because they have the option of OTT. As Bollywood and theatrical releases go, it really takes a lot for the audience to go out and buy a ticket. The film has to be superlative good or then a tentpole film with a huge budget. Not that this guarantees success. The film must have a good story too or else the audience exercises their option of television and OTT.

You have done Bard of Blood before and now Showtime. Do you feel OTT is giving artists the kind of work they really want to do?

I believe so. I think OTT has really upped the game as far as the scripts they are picking up and putting out there. There are very different kinds of stories, different genres, exciting, novel ideas, exciting new directors and actors. It is a great beginning. Of course, I can see the viewership rise and rise over the years and I think the audience really craves for this kind of different content. Theatrical has to really up its game to compete with the budgets and the ideas coming from streaming services.

What was it about your character in Showtime that made him interesting to you?

I play Raghu Khanna, a quintessential Bollywood producer. He's a typical commercial, mass film producer. And he's a bit of a brat. He's a bit impulsive, an in-your-face kind of guy, who is very arrogant. His end goal is to make films and entertain the audience, but he will go to any extent to make that film a success. There's also an interesting dynamic between a father and son. The father Victor Khanna (played by Naseeruddin Shah) is a producer who started the company Victory Films and his son, Raghu, who is the character I'm playing. Raghu takes on the mantle and there is this clash of ideologies between these two titans. That is a starting point of the story, from the perspective of the studio system. I think the USP of the show is the world of Bollywood. Like they say, cricket and Bollywood are the two religions in our country and everyone is curious about this industry and the truth behind the glitz and glamour. Showtime unmasks the people behind that facade and that external face. It is a pacy show and a lot of things that people have heard about the industry would either be confirmed in some way or negated. It'll be interesting to see the audience reaction.

Emraan Hashmi in a still from Showtime.

Is Raghu Khanna based on any real person? How did you interpret the character?

I think my main source of inspiration for playing Raghu Khanna was the script. It was very detailed in the narration and on paper. Then collaborating with the directors on different things -- the look, the tonality, the pitch of the character, the body language, all those things came about in the pre-production stage. Then finally, there is no substitute for getting on the film set and that whole collaboration with the directors as you go through the takes and the exercise of finding the character on the set and through those scenes.

How true or close to real incidents is Showtime?

Well, it's inspired from the experiences of all the people collaborating on the show, starting with the writer (Sumit Roy), because the story and the detailed episodes and the writing come from him. But then the whole collaborative process of all the actors and the directors is added in. We have all been part of the film industry so it's a little bit of all of our experiences pooled in. The occasional dialogue here and there is improvised. I think that was the interesting part, because all of us actors have had a journey in the film industry and here you are playing characters within the film industry.

Emraan Hashmi in a still from Showtime.

What was it like working with such an ensemble cast, especially Naseeruddin Shah?

It was fantastic. Naseeruddin Shah is always an inspiration. There is always something to learn from a legend like him. I've done The Dirty Picture with him, but I didn't have too many scenes then, unfortunately. In this also, we have a few scenes, but it's always nice to work with someone who's got so much experience and is so great at his work. Then, there is the ensemble cast of Mouni Roy, Mahima Makwana, Shriya Saran, who I am working with again after Awarapan (2007). Rajiv Khandwelwal is fantastic in the show, so is Vijay Raaz. In fact, all the actors have put their hearts and souls into the show. It was a great experience to collaborate with all of them.

What does Emraan Hashmi’s slate look like?

My next release would be O.G., which is a pan-Indian film made by the producers of RRR. It stars Pawan Kalyan and is directed by Sujeeth. Then there is G2, Goodachari 2, which is an interesting spy film. It stars Adivi Sesh. There is also a film called Ground Zero which will come out at some point this year. But right after Showtime there is Ae Watan Mere Watan (March 21), in which I have an interesting cameo as a freedom fighter.