He's bagged bussing success. Emraan Hashmi, however, does not intend to hold a Master Class and train candidates in the close art of smooching. Rather, he's turned gym instructor cum Casanova for Madhur Bhandarkar's realistic comedy 'Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji', wherein he's paired alongside Shruti Haasan. Ajit Ramachanddran does a Q and A number on him…Emraan Hashmi is kissing. Muuuuuaaaahhhh. Uuummmmmm. And guess what… like other filthy nosey parker journos… you're doing your bit diligently… keeping your ears glued to the closed door…trying to figure out the beneficiary of those kisses! Even as Hashmi's Man Friday winkingly tells you that there's mucho action happening on the sensual front…since early morning with Ms. Smoocherina.
Yooooo hooooo. Scoop! Even as you're trying to cajole the amused assistant to reveal the name of the femme inside… a series of sharp sounds of fingers snapping… filter right into your ears. And the decibels only seem to get louder and louder…
"It's interview time," the sharp voice of the PR man invades your eardrums, bringing you right out of your reverie!! Hah, pity, no such (vulgar) luck or cheap thrills.
Sitting before you in the flesh, Emraan Hashmi, clad in a fancy white printed tee and denims, is all geared up to zoom into inter phew mode; all gung ho and ready with his 'Dil Toh' spiel in place.
Excerpts from a kool chat…
You're playing this irrepressible flirt and gym trainer, Abhay Suri in 'Dil Toh…'who's looking for love + sex+ money…
Abhay is not looking for love. That is the last thing is looking for. He doesn't believe that there is anything like love and he is very good with women in that sense. He knows how to play the mind game with them and he is the love guru in the life of these three guys who start of as strangers. He is a very weird crazy kind of guy. Abhay has affairs with women training in the gym and freeloads off them, because he himself needs the money. He is constantly saying he knows a lot but eventually when he actually starts feeling for a woman even he is dumbstruck. Abhay doesn't have any answers for his own life. So I think in that sense he is a fairly believable character.
But haven't you played a flirt before too? Would you have preferred to play any of the other two characters: Naren Ahuja or Milind Kelkar?
I have played a character like this before; I have tapped out his ideology before. But had I played either one of the characters, even if it is Milind or Naren, I would have obviously played in a different way. I took up 'DTBHJ' because Madhur came to me with this. I think Abhay is also funny in the sense there is a gradual growth in the character and a distinct change too. So I think I would stick to my character because you see a unique change in the character from the first frame to the last. So for me as an actor, I feel I could relate to that more and there more of a graph or an arch to Abhay."
What happens when love strikes Abhay's heart?
That's where the ideology of the character changes. He only has one thing on his mind throughout the film and that is sex because he never really felt true love. Abhay has never felt that high, the emotional swell of true love and when he actually faces that situation, first comes fear that this can't be…I can't be in this situation for other stupid men who fall in this trap. But eventually when Abhay actually starts feeling for this girl Nikki, there is a very gradual and a drastic change in the character.
What kind of a flirt are you in real life?
I see myself as a harmless flirt in real life. Well, it is because I believe in innocent flirting; it does not need to be taken to the next level. Sometime you can just enjoy a women's company and pay her a compliment. There need not be any other intention there.
Did you expect Madhur Bhandarkar to offer you another "realistic film" when you were called to meet him?
Yes, I was preempting it, when I had my meeting with Madhur. He is always associated with films like 'Page 3' or 'Corporate'. But I was very pleasantly surprised when he said that he intended to make a film called 'Dil Toh…' which is a rom com. But in his own space, it is not a drastic change in the sense that it is not a traditional Bollywood rom com. Madhur has placed it in the real world so a sense of realism also reflects in this film and the industry also never wants you to change. They would rather have him make a film like a 'Page 3' or whatever on the film industry for that matter. But it's great that he has done this because the audience always wants to see you do something different. So Madhur has stepped out of his comfort zone and has done something different.
Madhur's film is being touted as a "romantic comedy"…
I think, generally Bollywood romances are highly unrealistic. But this film is very realistic obviously in an entertaining way. It is not suppose to bore you at any point of time. So there will be situations that our comic but at the same time we have dealt with these situations in our life. The characters themselves are not doing comedy. Sometimes the weirdness of the situation in love, when you are trying to put your best foot forward to impress a woman, sometimes, an oddness can come into it. So we have shown that in this film which is funny. From each one of these guys and girls, you will relate to one of their stories or love stories. So there is a nerd, there is the mature man who still is a kid at heart and then there is a flirt who has his own ideology but changes through the film.
So you feel that realistic rom coms are the order of the day?
Yes, and I hope it will be alive and kicking for many years to come.
Do you agree with the philosophy that men are basically just overgrown babies?
Yes, and I think it reflects in a lot of ways in which we react even if we turn 30 and 35 or 40 and consider ourselves mature. There are certain situations for which we react in a child like way, that just makes us feel that we are still, with all our intellect and whatever we have learnt and experiences that there is still a certain innocence which is very important to be happy in our personal life and professional life, for creativity. You have to think like a child. Spielberg said that he makes film the way he makes because he thinks like a child; otherwise it is the death of creativity if you stop thinking like that. I think that is very essential.
What in your estimate is Madhur's strength as a director?
I think his strength, with this film, at least, is that he will surprise the audience. Probably what would be construed as his weakness earlier that he is making a particular kind of cinema, now he is gone out there and he has played on the front foot and has done something different. So that in itself will become his strength because he is as comfortable with this genre as he is with making 'Corporate' or a 'Signal' or a 'Page 3'.
What's the film's underlying message that comes through?
That men will never really grow up. Men feel they are highly mature, but if they were thrown in the same situation they would react like either one of these men.
What's your take on co star Shruti Haasan?
I think that Shruti is a very spontaneous actress. She has played the character with her heart. I think what works for this film is that she has got that newness and freshness to her because there is no image built around her as yet. That works because it is a girl next door and although she is a today's women you will relate to her character and you will relate to all these girls.
Did you play pranks on Madhur's sets?
We did lots of stuff. A cameraman's hair was white and we dyed his hair on the sets. So yeah, we did do stupid stuff like that.
What's the best part about being in Madhur's rom com?
I think this being my first rom com, thankfully it is not over the top, loud comedy; it had to be believable. It had to look like conversation and not like dialogues for effect which was there for 'Once upon a time...'. There was lot of dialogue in that film whereas in this film it is quite the opposite and our equations have completely changed from Sultan and Shoeb's equation and conflicts to being friends in 'Dil Toh..' So it's definitely a different switch you have to adapt for a different genre. Incidentally we were shooting for this before 'Once upon a time…' released. So it was great to switch roles and play something else. I don't know how the audience is going to accept my first romantic comedy, I just hope that whatever I have done and the work that I have put in is liked by people.
What have you picked up from Ajay Devgn, the comic actor?
An element of surprise and a flair for his own sense of comic timing. No one can teach you that, either it works or doesn't work.
'Dil Toh..' has many funny one liners? Did you contribute to any of them?
No, actually most of the stuff was given by the dialogue writer and yes,we used to improvise a little bit which we did on my famous one liner: 'life mein mera motto hai… so aur sone do.'
Give me a funny scene from the movie that you really like?
There is a scene where I go to a vet to impress this girl with this little puppy and he buys this dog from the street and he is trying to impress her. That is a kind of funny scene.
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