Indian actor
Syed Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. Born into the Bhatt family, he began his career an assistant director on the horror film "Raaz" (2002). He made his acting debut with the crime film "Footpath" (2003), and achieved his breakthrough for his starring role in the erotic thriller "Murder" (2004).
Hashmi went on to star in thrillers such as "Zeher" (2005), "Kalyug" (2005), "Aksar" (2006), and ' (2006). His other critically or commercially successful films include "Jannat" (2008), ' (2009), "Murder 2" (2011), "The Dirty Picture" (2011), "Jannat 2" (2012) and "" (2012). He earned nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" (2010) and "Shanghai" (2012). 
This was followed by a series of poorly received films and a hiatus. He returned with the commercially successful action thriller "Tiger 3" (2023), which earned him his third Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Early life.
Hashmi was born on 24 March 1979, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. His father, Syed Anwar Hashmi, is a businessman, who also acted in the mystery film "Baharon Ki Manzil" (1968), and his mother, Maherrah Hashmi, was a homemaker. His paternal grandfather, Syed Shaukat Hashmi, migrated to Pakistan after the partition of India, where he worked as a journalist and as a film director, while his grandmother, Meherbano Mohammad Ali (known by her screen name Purnima), was an actress, who stayed in India.
Meherbano Mohammad Ali later married producer-director Bhagwan Das Varma, making him Hashmi's step-grandfather and Hashmi a part of the Varma family. Hashmi is also a part of the Bhatt family as Meherbano was the sister of Shirin Mohammad Ali, the mother of producers Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, who are thus Hashmi's uncles. Hashmi is the second cousin of director Mohit Suri, with whom he has collaborated in several films, actresses Pooja Bhatt and Alia Bhatt and actor Rahul Bhatt. Udita Goswami is his sister-in-law. Hashmi studied at the Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School. Later, he attended Sydenham College in Mumbai and earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai.
Career.
2003–2007: Breakthrough with erotic-thrillers.
Hashmi made his acting debut with Vikram Bhatt's thriller "Footpath" (2003) alongside Aftab Shivdasani and Bipasha Basu. His performance as Raghu Shrivastav, a gangster, was appreciated by critics, with Gaurav Malani describing him as the "scene-stealer" and praised his mannerisms. It emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. 
He achieved his breakthrough with Anurag Basu's erotic thriller "Murder" (2004) co-starring Mallika Sherawat and Ashmit Patel in lead roles. Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" said about his performance: "Hashmi is fantastic in a role that seems tailor-made for him. Portraying an obsessive lover with flourish, there's no denying that the narrative gets a major impetus thanks to Hashmi's performance." "Murder" emerged as a commercial success, with a domestic total of million (), ranking as the eighth highest-grossing Hindi fim of the year.
Hashmi next starred in Basu's musical romance "Tumsa Nahin Dekha" (2004) opposite Dia Mirza. While shooting the film, Basu was diagnosed with blood cancer, so producer-director Mahesh Bhatt stepped in to complete it. Although the film emerged as a commercial disaster at the box office, Hashmi's portrayal of Daksh Mittal (a young millionaire who falls in love with a bargirl, played by Mirza) received mixed-to-positive reviews. A review of his performance in "BBC Online" noted that he was "becoming fabulous with every film." 
The next year Hashmi made appearances in 4 movies. His 1st movie in 2005 was "Zeher", a mystery thriller film directed by debutant Mohit Suri &amp; produced by Mahesh Bhatt, adaptation of the 2003 American film "Out Of Time". Released on 25 March 2005, the film was moderately successful at the box office. Film's songs 'Agar Tum Mil Jao' &amp; 'Jaane Jaa Jaane Jaa' were chartbusters while other songs were also extremely popular with the song 'Woh Lahme' being a big rage among the youth. His 2nd film that year was "Aashiq Banaya Aapne", a romantic thriller film directed by Aditya Datt, inspired by the 2001 American film "Tangled", starring Emraan Hashmi, Sonu Sood, &amp; Tanushree Dutta (in her debut), &amp; follows a love triangle between their characters. His 3rd film that year was "Chocolate", a crime thriller film directed by Vivek Agnihotri in his directorial debut, starring Anil Kapoor, Sunil Shetty, Emraan Hashmi, Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Tanushree Dutta, &amp; Sushma Reddy. The film was inspired by the 1995 American film "The Usual Suspects". His final film appearance that year was a supporting role in Mohit Suri's action thriller "Kalyug", alongside Kunal Khemu, Smilie Suri, Amrita Singh, Ashutosh Rana &amp; Deepal Shaw. Based on the sex industry, the film depicted the devastating effect that non-consensual pornographic films have on the subjects. Hashmi featured as Ali Bhai, a man who runs a sex shop. His performance, and the film, garnered positive reviews from critics, with Taran Adarsh writing: "Hashmi makes a brief, but solid, appearance and the actor is, like always, highly competent." "Kalyug" emerged as a moderate commercial success in India. 
Hashmi's first screen appearance in 2006 was Anant Mahadevan's erotic thriller "Aksar" alongside Udita Goswami and Dino Morea. The film was super hit, and well received from critics. He followed it up with Basu's musical romantic thriller "" co-starring debutante Kangana Ranaut and Shiney Ahuja in lead roles. The film emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing over million () in India. It opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with Hashmi's portrayal of Akash Kapadia, an undercover detective, receiving particular praise. "Rediff.com"'s Raja Sen wrote, "Hashmi's character is an understated one, and he manages to keep it that way. There is no unnecessary bluster or melodrama, and he does a pretty believable job. There is something lazy about his acting, by which I mean he makes the job look easy." Hashmi's performance in the film earned him a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. He then appeared in the crime thriller "The Killer" (adapted from the 2004 film "Collateral") and the romance "Dil Diya Hai", both of which emerged as critical and commercial disasters.
In 2007, Hashmi appeared in three films, the first being the comedy "Good Boy Bad Boy" alongside Tusshar Kapoor, Isha Sharvani and Tanushree Dutta. The film received negative reviews from critics upon release and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next featured as a gangster with a tragic past in Suri's neo-noir action drama "Awarapan" (2007) alongside Mrinalini Sharma and Shriya Saran. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise directed towards Hashmi's performance. Writing for the "Hindustan Times", critic Khalid Mohamed described it as "intense and believable". Subhash K Jha wrote: "...Hashmi [is] an actor who conceals more than he reveals on screen. There is an inherent pain in his personality that this film taps better than anything he has done earlier. This film marks the emergence of a major talent." Despite positive critical reception, it emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office. Over the years, "Awarapan" has attained cult status, primarily due to Hashmi's performance. His final release of the year was the romantic thriller "The Train", co-starring Geeta Basra and debutante Sayali Bhagat in lead roles. Narrating the story of a married couple caught in a complex extramarital love triangle, the film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.
2008–2012: Commercial success.
Hashmi's only film appearance in 2008 was Kunal Deshmukh's crime romance "Jannat". Depicting a love story set against the backdrop of match fixing, the film also starred Sonal Chauhan, Javed Sheikh and Sameer Kochhar. The film, and Hashmi's performance in the film as Arjun Dixit, a bookmaker, received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics; Taran Adarsh commented that "[t]he actor displays the gamut of emotions with aplomb, he changes expressions like a chameleon changes colors. "Jannat" is yet another turning point in his career." The film emerged as a commercial success in India, with revenues of over million ().
In 2009, Hashmi appeared in Suri's supernatural horror film ', alongside Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman. Hashmi's portrayal of a painter, and the film, received mixed-to-positive reviews; "The Times of Indias Nikhat Kazmi wrote: "Hashmi is fast emerging as the Colin Farrell of Indian cinema: completely mercurial, eclectic and unpredictable. As the brooding, prescient painter, who paints death on his canvas and falls in love with one of subjects, he is suitably aggrieved, desperate and afraid." Its domestic collection exceeded million (), emerging as a commercial success at the box-office. He then starred opposite Soha Ali Khan in Kunal Deshmukh's romantic drama disaster "Tum Mile", which narrated a love story set against the backdrop of the 2005 Maharashtra floods. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release; however, it emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.
The following year, Hashmi featured in Milan Luthria's period action drama "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai" with an ensemble cast including Ajay Devgan, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai and Randeep Hooda. The film, which depicted the rise of organised crime in Mumbai, saw Hashmi play Shoaib Khan, a character inspired by real-life gangster Dawood Ibrahim. With a domestic revenue of over million (), "Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai" emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hashmi's performance. Blessy Chettiar of "Daily News and Analysis" described him as "top class", while Komal Nahta remarked: "This is easily Hashmi's best performance so far. If he is cute in the romantic scenes, he is believably tough in the action and dramatic scenes." For his performance, Hashmi received his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. His next release that year was Suri's action thriller "Crook", based on the violence against Indians in Australia controversy. However, the film was panned by critics and emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office.
Hashmi began 2011 with Madhur Bhandarkar's romantic comedy "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji" alongside Devgn, Omi Vaidya, Shazahn Padamsee, Tisca Chopra and Shruti Hassan. The film, and Hashmi's performance, received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next featured in Suri's psychological action thriller "Murder 2", alongside Jacqueline Fernandez. The film, and Hashmi's performance, received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" wrote: "Hashmi gets to do what he does best, glowering at the men, bedding the ladies, and towards the end, going head to head with the bad guy [...] he goes through the film with his usual smart one-liners containing equal amounts of bluster and fluster." "Murder 2" emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, with a domestic revenue of over million (). His final film appearance that year was Luthria's biographical musical drama "The Dirty Picture", featuring Vidya Balan as the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha, alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor. He portrayed Abraham, the narrator, who proclaims himself to be the protagonist's biggest enemy. The film opened to widespread critical acclaim, with praise for Hashmi's performance; CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand wrote: "Hashmi is highly restrained as Abraham, a director who believes in film as art, and who abhors the idea of inserting steamy numbers in his movie to lure in the crowds." However, several critics were sceptical about his role in the film; Soumyadipta Banerjee from "Daily News and Analysis" considered it "out of place". It emerged as a major commercial success with a worldwide revenue of over (). "Murder 2" and "The Dirty Picture" ranked as the ninth and seventh highest-grossing Hindi films of the year.
In 2012, Hashmi appeared in Deshmukh's crime thriller "Jannat 2" alongside Hooda and Esha Gupta. It was initially titled "Informer", but was later changed to the current title, making it a follow-up film to "Jannat" (2008). The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a commercial success at the box-office. He next starred alongside Abhay Deol, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Kalki Koechlin in Dibakar Banerjee's political thriller "Shanghai", an adaptation of writer Vassilis Vassilikos's novel "Z" and the 1969 French film of the same name. Set in a fictional town called Bharat Nagar,