Emraan's character based on Mahesh Bhatt

Emraan Hashmi admits his character in The Dirty Picture has shades of his controversial filmmaker-uncle.

Emraan Hashmi, who was launched by his uncle Mahesh Bhatt, has now stepped into the controversial filmmaker’s shoes to make his The Dirty Picture character convincing.

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Produced by Ekta Kapoor and directed by Milan Luthria, the film is a biopic based on the life of Southern siren Silk Smitha.

“I play Abraham who has a love-hate relationship with Silk (played by Vidya Balan) in the film. He’s a successful, upright and somewhat rebellious producer from down South. And who better than Mahesh Bhatt to play muse?,” says Emraan, adding, “He’s family and I’ve always been close to him.”

Bhatt has never minced words and this coupled with his care-a-damn-attitude has often got him mired in controversies. “My character, Abraham, is someone who goes against the grain and does things on his own terms. Mahesh Bhatt too challenged the system and broke the status quo,” points out Emraan.

Earlier Mahesh Bhatt himself has portrayed a slice of his own life through films like Arth (1982), Zakham (1998) and Woh Lamhe (2006), which was written by him, produced by his brother Mukesh Bhatt and directed by Mohit Suri.

Besides Silk Smitha, The Dirty Picture apparently also takes inspiration from another southern actor, Disco Shanti. The film releases on December 2 and also features Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor.