“I was cribbing a lot during ‘Raaz 3’” – Emraan Hashmi

Emraan Hashmi is back. And that too pretty soon! 2012 started on a good note for him with ‘Jannat 2‘ turning out to be a success. However after playing a series of ‘quintessentially Hashmi’ roles, he decided to change tracks with an offbeat ‘Shanghai’. The film did for him what he always wanted, i.e. gain critical acclaim and explore a new audience base. While one waits to see how to address this audience base in films to come, for now he is happy to get back to his target audience with ‘Raaz 3‘.

From being a rookie (Footpath) to a superstar (Raaz 3); that seems like quite a lot of baggage that your director Vikram Bhatt must be dealing with now?

(Laughs) Come on, equation between him and I cannot change. Yes, I am more experienced as an actor now so at least from his point of view, ab unhe mera haath pakadke kaam nahi karwaana padhega. I guess that’s a pressure off him more than anything else because at least now I can deliver. There were still a few things that Vikram Bhatt had to guide, most importantly the medium of 3D.

I hear from Vikram that you often lost patience when the shot was being readied for 3D.

Arrey, shuru shuru mein exciting tha par chaar din ke baad hi buri taraj se pakk gaya tha! If this was the only film I had been doing then may be I would have been slightly more tolerant. However I was actually cribbing a lot on the sets since there were so many things clouding my mind space. The scenes were taking so long and I am inherently very impatient; I can’t wait between the shots. Half the time during the shoot we were just setting up scenes. Thankfully the end results are there to be seen.

While we wait to see that, another observation is that right through this ‘Raaz’ series you seem to be helping damsels in distress. In ‘Raaz – The Mystery Continues’, you helped out Kangana’s character which was possessed. Now in ‘Raaz 3′ you seem to be trying to bail out Esha. So what’s actually happening?

Yes, my character is trapped in this relationship so it gets very confusing for me after a while. I start off as someone who is in relationship with Bipasha Basu and then get emotionally drawn with Esha Gupta as well. That’s the dilemma of the plot because while I am shown as someone who owes his career to Bipasha, I also fall in love with Esha. As you can see from the promos, since Bipasha gets jealous of Esha, she resorts to black magic in order to get her fading stardom back. That results in terror or horror and this is where I come.

….and indulge in a threesome!

(Laughs) Come on, there is nothing like that. This angle itself is

ridiculous. Don’t go with any expectations of a threesome otherwise you

would be disappointed.

And how about the rumour making rounds that you are playing a ghost in the film?

Do you think I am going to say anything on it before the film’s release? (Chuckles). Watch the film and you will find out!