In a candid chat with Pinkvilla, Emraan Hashmi opens up about playing the negative force, Aatish, in the Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif-led Tiger 3, and the probable prequel track with John Abraham aka. Jim in the YRF Spy Universe. Emraan insists that Salman Khan is a person with maximum aura whereas Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan are two of the most punctual people in the Hindi Film Industry. He also hints at a probable collaboration with Aditya Chopra on another film and calls Katrina Kaif the most hardworking actor he has met. Watch this video
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00:00 So I had to put in that hard work in that one probably 7-8 months and beef up as much as I could.
00:05 Well there was excitement, there's also concern because John is like, I hope this is taken well by the audience.
00:13 But people are like, okay how does Aatish make his way or figure it in if probably the spy universe continues with other villainous characters.
00:23 I was like there's always a pre-story.
00:25 Very very hard working, extremely focused with what she wants to do and very driven.
00:32 Some people have to project a personality of a star.
00:36 It's not Salman, Salman can come and be his casual best and this is him.
00:42 Hi guys this is Zimish and welcome to Pinkvilla.
00:48 Today we have with us the negative force of Tiger 3, Imran Hashmi.
00:51 Welcome to Pinkvilla Imran, it's lovely having you here.
00:53 Thank you so much, thank you.
00:54 Imran, my first question to you is I remember having a conversation with you around 1 and a half years back
00:59 where you told me you were in Russia to shop and you accidentally happened to be around the sets of Tiger 3.
01:06 Istanbul, Istanbul yeah.
01:07 And you just got an autograph of Salman and Katrina on the set.
01:11 Yeah, yeah it was a lot of lies that I had to dole out because you know it was pre-decided that I won't reveal that I was a part of the film.
01:23 And if you see that even the promo, the way the trailer was cut in which I was there, it's the prologue of the voice and ultimately the reveal of the character in the end.
01:34 So I think it was pre-decided that you know it would be kind of a surprise.
01:37 I know that everyone was in on it, everyone knew in the industry that I'm doing it.
01:42 It's just that there's such a large bunch of people out there who you know follow you guys and if it came out and if the quote came out that I was part of the film
01:51 then it would kind of ruin the surprise and surprise of the trailer.
01:54 True. But do you remember your first ever conversation with Adi Chopra when he came to you with the character of Atish for Tiger?
02:01 Yes, I actually got, I met Manish first and I met Adi after that.
02:07 My meetings with Manish were primarily to understand what you know the character, the script, what would entail,
02:16 what would it take from my side and what I could offer and I think I met him post that after my second meeting with Manish.
02:24 After you know I was convinced that this is something that I want to do.
02:28 They were convinced that I would fit into the character, Manish would and then Manish just said
02:32 yeah you know I think we are vibing on the same frequency using the character the way I see it.
02:38 He narrated the script obviously before that and that's when I met Mr. Aditya Chopra and it was yeah,
02:44 it was quite interesting the entire journey because after that there was a lot of work to be done
02:50 because you know we had to kind of mould that character, the look and everything so a lot of work went into it.
02:57 But what was the biggest challenge of playing Atish?
02:59 Well first of all nailing the multiple looks because that wasn't fixed, that wasn't pre-decided,
03:06 the salt and pepper hair wasn't pre-decided.
03:08 So we in this very room we've done probably five different, five, six photo shoots,
03:15 probably 10 look tests to kind of lock those and Manish is quite a hard task master,
03:21 it's very difficult to please him and you know he wanted to be very, very clear because you know
03:25 people are invested in Tiger, they know about Tiger, they know about Zoya, their lives.
03:31 There's this new character coming in and it was very important to visually
03:36 introduce him in a very impactful way so when you first see him and without giving too many
03:41 spoilers away, he's that very kind of vulnerable kind of young boy that you see, 25 year old and
03:50 then the present day when you see him as this very kind of rugged, salt and pepper, completely
03:56 changed man and also a middle part of his life when he was 35.
04:00 So that was important to kind of knock those off and get a very clear distinct look.
04:04 Did you hit the gym with Salman through the?
04:06 I wanted to, unfortunately didn't because our schedules didn't match, I was shooting for you
04:12 know it separately and then I did shoot a couple of days with Salman but it was extremely hectic
04:17 because there was the action and there were bits, they were short, they were extremely hectic but
04:22 yeah some fun times in the set, some good conversations and I had to work out because
04:30 Salman generally his dimensions, he's kind of muscular. I started off as being extremely thin
04:36 when I stepped into the film and it was me who told Adi and Manish that you know let me put on
04:42 some size and they're very clear that in this there's no taking off the shirt just for the
04:46 sake of it and showing abs because it's not that kind of film so I said that's a given but it's
04:51 just that the frame of the guy okay let me get at least close to him if not match him because he's
04:57 been working out for a long, I've been working out too but not as serious as he has been so I had
05:02 to put in that hard work in that one probably seven, eight months and beef up as much as I could.
05:07 You know this is a very common quote, every villain is a hero in his own eyes.
05:12 Yes.
05:12 How did you envision the character like of Aatish?
05:15 You know this is one thing that I've that I've also said this to the other journos before that
05:22 you know I had this preconceived notion that I don't want to play a bad guy in a film right so
05:27 when Manish said you know we're thinking of you as playing the negative lead in the film I had
05:34 kind of without hearing this script jumped the gun and said that probably I might not be doing this
05:38 but then he narrated the character of Aatish what fascinated me and what is very important that
05:46 there's a very distinct line between what is an anti-hero and what is a villain. He's not
05:53 unidimensional, he's not bad for the sake of being bad and you see him through his graph in his film
05:58 that he is because of the circumstances in his life he becomes that way, it fractures his mind
06:03 and it becomes this guy that you see in the present day. You might fault him, you might think
06:08 a huge part of the audience here would feel that okay political ideologies clash with them because
06:14 he's on the other side of the border but in his narrative he's doing what he thinks is right and
06:20 there's something very this kind of virtue in the fact that you know there's family values there,
06:27 he's doing it because of people that he's lost so there's also an emotional arc there which is
06:31 very strong so I found that interesting if that wasn't there, if that wasn't there I probably
06:36 wouldn't have done it because then it would have made it just for the sake of that right there has
06:41 to be something, you might hate him but there's that redeeming factor of he became this way
06:46 because of an incident in his life.
06:48 And you know you were shooting for I think Tiger and Pathan the prep, the pre-production
06:54 everything started at a similar point of time when you were shooting with John for Mumbai Saga.
06:59 No, actually we met during the press conference, did the promotions at that time we had launched
07:07 and not launched really, you had broken the article that I'm doing the film or someone else
07:12 had and everyone started talking about it so remember John had met me and we spoke about
07:17 him doing Pathan and me this but it was not during the shooting of Mumbai Saga.
07:20 Maybe after, maybe during the promotions but what sort of discussion did you all
07:24 had were you both because you know both were playing a negative force in this ambitious
07:29 spy universe and where there was excitement yeah there's also a concern because John is like
07:37 I hope this is taken well by the audience because you know he might have played a negative
07:42 lead or two before this, I have also done that my career but it's a very it's a little bit of
07:49 a dicey line you know when you're playing an antagonist so when you're going off on another
07:54 path you're just hoping that it turns out well so that's the discussion we had he's like okay
08:00 God help us we hope it turns out good for both of us in this.
08:04 Every character has a backstory which doesn't make it to the screen.
08:08 Yes.
08:08 Is there a probable backstory to Aatish in a certain timeline where he has met Jim?
08:13 Can't rule that out, can't rule that out and you know I don't give too much away about the film
08:21 but people like okay how does Aatish make his way or figure it in if probably this spy universe
08:28 continues with other villainous characters I was like there's always a pre-story,
08:33 there's always a pre-story you can meet him at any point of time in his life between 25 and 50.
08:38 So yeah probably they cross paths at some point of time maybe they both scheme
08:43 and try to bring someone else down.
08:45 And you know I just before coming I saw an interview where you said there were multiple
08:50 possibilities of a collaboration with Salman over the last 10-12 years and finally this happened.
08:54 Yes.
08:55 What was it when you both first met and you're like okay finally because I think Bajrangi
08:59 ek tha there was one production which you were supposed to do for him and then finally it's over here.
09:03 Yeah, yeah.
09:04 Well, I've you know we've met multiple times before this and there have been potential
09:09 films that you know that were our way but unfortunately it didn't turn out but you know
09:14 this is better late than never, can't get bigger than Tiger franchise and it was great yeah I'm
09:20 just very fond of Salman generally I mean so we're not like it's not like we hang out every day but
09:25 it's it's an equation when whenever I meet him it's very warm and it's it's just like you know
09:30 it's very comfortable like there are some people you might meet and it's just there's no connect
09:37 there yeah you're formal and you're cordial I think Salman is very, very comfortable with each
09:43 other and that makes the whole working experience also fun.
09:46 If not for an action film which is another genre you want to work with him on?
09:51 If not an action film, I think a musical, musical romantic comedy or an ensemble also I would love to do that
09:58 because also in his career he's had some really huge path-breaking songs so you know a film where
10:06 you can bring in doses of action, romance, comedy and also a musical and have great songs have
10:13 probably six good songs and make Preetam compose it so yeah it would be good.
10:19 A lot of people are complaining on Twitter.
10:21 I know.
10:22 They wanted one song of you.
10:24 Preetam also was, Preetam also tried his level best to convince the team that you know give him
10:30 a romantic track in the backstory but it would really ruin the pace of the film I mean if you
10:35 see the film it's yeah songs had I mean a song has its place but it's not really that it is more
10:42 story driven, there's more action and this grander scale driven with the back, lovely backstory so
10:50 I think that's another song would kind of ruin the pace if you ask me.
10:53 Wo zamana gaya actually where you can just kind of put in and throw in like six songs into the film.
10:58 People are getting a little too, the attention span, the patience yeah it's lacking these days with the audience.
11:05 And then there's Katrina who is the you know Tigress, I would call her the Tigress.
11:10 She has so much action in the film.
11:12 She's doing everything basically and like you said she's someone who doesn't need a man to save her.
11:17 Yeah.
11:17 What was it like working with her because you are fighting her as well in the film.
11:22 Yeah well she's someone I've admired for the longest time, her choreograph, the way she's kind
11:28 of made great strides and this is my first time working with her.
11:32 She's just great working with because she completely surrenders as far as the character goes,
11:39 the vision of the director, no you know no questions asked.
11:43 She'll give the director multiple takes and Manish likes to take a lot of takes.
11:46 He's like never happy with the first take.
11:48 He's like okay I want another one, I want another one because he wants to get the key right.
11:51 So she really puts in heart and soul and I hadn't seen most of the other action set
11:57 pieces because I was not part of them but yeah some crazy, crazy she really kicked ass in the film.
12:02 Yeah and you know when someone does a film with Vyar, if it is not one of an isolation,
12:07 there are multiple collaborations which happen through the process.
12:10 Have you had discussions with Vyar on other stuff over the last two and a half years?
12:14 Are you talking about generally about in the spy universe?
12:17 Both, generally about spy universe and even outside of it.
12:20 But potentially I mean but nothing that I've signed yet but inshallah hopefully.
12:27 And there's one segment you have done multiple two hero films over the last
12:32 let's say 10 years.
12:34 Yes.
12:35 So can you tell us one quality about your co-stars which make them what they are?
12:39 So first is Amit Ji, you did Jai Haryan with him.
12:43 Oh he's extremely disciplined.
12:45 He is and I was so surprised not because of anything else I just felt that you know he's
12:51 a man with so much experience.
12:53 He will come for readings.
12:54 I'm like Mr. Bachchan's coming for readings.
12:56 I didn't expect that.
12:57 I thought he's you know with his god of acting he will just turn up on set but he comes
13:01 and he asks questions the director.
13:02 He wants to know exactly what the director wants.
13:04 That's commendable.
13:05 And he loves his rehearsals.
13:06 He wants to knock it and get it the pitch bang on before the camera rolls.
13:12 So that's very good.
13:13 Akshay?
13:14 Very disciplined.
13:16 Up at he's probably he gets up before me.
13:21 I wake up probably on the shoot probably at 6 30.
13:23 He's I think he's up at 4 35 and he's there he's one of the few actors who you can expect
13:28 to be there at 7 in the morning.
13:30 So I like that.
13:31 I generally like the 7 to 5 shift because you beat traffic and when you're working
13:36 with Akshay you know you can make it from a 7 to 5 and wrap up by 5.
13:39 Katrina?
13:41 Very, very hard working.
13:45 Extremely focused with what she wants to do and very driven.
13:50 And one of the I would say the best female action stars out there.
13:56 Yeah, 100%.
13:58 Yeah.
13:58 Okay.
14:00 Salman Khan?
14:01 Very, very charismatic.
14:03 Has this huge aura and he doesn't have to work on it.
14:08 He's just someone who's got that personality.
14:10 Some people have to project a personality of a star.
14:15 It's not Salman.
14:16 Salman can come and be his casual best and he's just him.
14:20 He just likes to sit down and chill and his lazy charm and he can just be you know he's
14:24 he's so captivating.
14:26 And last one Ajay Devgn?
14:29 Ajay Devgn is very calm, very composed.
14:31 Again really knows the skill set of filmmaking not just acting because he's also stepped in.
14:40 I believe also this is what he mentioned was the first that he wanted to be a director first.
14:45 So he's he's he knows exactly it's not he just see he doesn't see the frame or the
14:49 performance from the point of view of just an actor.
14:51 He sees it from behind the camera as a director.
14:55 And last couple of questions, what are the kind of films that you want to do from here on post Tiger 3?
15:01 I don't know man.
15:01 I never pre-decide.
15:03 I never pre-decide because you know and there's whenever someone comes with the story, if it
15:09 excites me, if the director seems extremely convinced and driven and convinced me to be
15:14 part of it, I'm on for it.
15:17 So it's anything and everything out there.
15:19 It just has to be a great story and something I've not done before.
15:22 And what are your upcoming films like?
15:25 Can't speak much about it but there are two really good big ones coming up next year.
15:31 And there is also a show which is an interesting one that's with Dramatic.
15:39 Yeah, Hotstar.
15:41 So that's that's going to come out early.
15:43 Okay, so we'll learn about everything now maybe.
15:45 I think post December is when you start hearing announcements.
15:48 Looking forward to them and congratulations on Tiger.
15:51 Thank you.
15:52 Thank you so much.
15:52 Best of luck.
15:53 Thank you.
15:53 Thank you.
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