Horror-thriller movie ‘#Dybbuk’ star Emraan Hashmi has been watching horror movies since childhood!

This year, during the ongoing corona scare, #EmraanHashmi’s two films released. Mumbai Saga, which also had #JohnAbraham, was theatrically released just before second wave of Covid 19 attack. And just recently he was seen in ‘#Chehre’, which too was released in cinema houses, though not in Maharashtra, where he shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan. Emraan has always been versatile performer dabbling in various genres and dishing out memorable performances. ‘I have never consciously done something to do different genre films, nor I had PR team working on that image. I am a very private person and I have maintained duality between my private and professional lives. I like my time off. My family and friend circle, which doesn’t have any remote connection with films, keep me grounded’ confessed Emraan Hashmi during the conversation with our correspondent Keerti Kadam. Emraan spoke at length about his upcoming movie Dybbuk which is based on a Malayalam movie Ezra which was a superhit in the southern markets.

Actor Emraan Hashmi came into limelight with ‘Murder’ and was labelled a ‘serial kisser’ due to innumerable romantic scenes in his films involving multiple lip-locks. Along side his raw romantic image Emraan was comfortable in horror genre too. He did horror-thriller Raaz, which was very successful at the box office, and went on to do more films under that franchise. Frankly horror genre is still majorly untapped in India and Emraan has no qualms in indulging in it if the script is captivating. He is coming up with a scary movie ‘Dybbuk’ which has taken an OTT route for the release.

Emraan Hashmi said that he saw the original Ezra about an year ago and was highly impressed with it. ‘In out country horror genre is not seriously taken and somewhere we lack aesthetic while making it. If the director’s sensibility is good then the horror genre comes out better. Dybbuk director Jai’s sensibility is very good and his vision was clear and I decided to back his vision. We have increased the horror quotient in Dybbuk in comparison to the original Ezra and the film has worked out fine’ he said. Talking about the importance of script in film making Emraan said, ‘In 2004 I did Raaz and it was well appreciated. Content is king these days. This time round Jai has infused a different kind of vision in the film and the film Dybbuk can brush shoulders with the best international horror movies. The film has a human story, which is essential for an audience connect, and our film too has it.’

Dybbuk will be released on digital platform. Talking about it Emraan said, ‘we started shooting the film somewhere in 2019 and the Covid 19 happened. 30% of the work was remaining. Covid time was taxing but it was blessing in disguise as we realised that there’s going to be a shift in release pattern. As a lot of horror content was consumed on digital platform we upscaled horror moments in our film. When the shoots were permitted we completed the film.’ Talking about release pressure Emraan Hashmi opined, ‘There isn’t a box office pressure for an OTT release. OTT allows film makers to utilise their creative juices enhancing the content.’ Talking about the unusual title Emraan informed, ‘Bybbuk is a Hebrew word. Also we didn’t want to go in for a Hindi word to avoid commonality. Also the title itself increases the curiosity of the viewers which adds new dimension to the title.’

Emraan always had a fascination for horror movies and has been enjoying them from an young age of eight. But his children do not like this genre at all. Though he carries a ‘serial kisser’ tag, he’s most uncontroversial figure in the film industry. His name has never been linked to any female co-star and when egged about it he mischievously commented, ‘I am not controversial could be because either I am Not controversial or I am too Smart.’