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‘I’ve switched off my number temporarily’
Emraan Hashmi reacts to rumours about getting threat calls from the underworld in Pakistan and Dubai.
When Emraan Hashmi took on the role of Shoaib in Milan Luthria’s Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, he did not spare much thought on the implications of playing an underworld don modelled on Dawood Ibrahim. But as the resemblance to Dawood was noted, things got somewhat uncomfortable for the actor. Buzz is that for the last few months, he’s been getting threat calls from the underworld in Pakistan and Dubai and a day ago, had changed his number.
The actor reacted to the rumours angrily, "Please don’t speculate and blow things out of proportion. I have temporarily switched off my mobile, will reconnect it soon." Based on the crime scene in Mumbai in the 1970s, the film is reportedly inspired by Haji Mastan and his protégé Dawood Ibrahim. Ajay Devgn’s look in Ram Gopal Varma’s Company was also reportedly inspired by Dawood’s but in Hashmi’s case, the similarity is striking. But he has been constantly saying that the similarity is only coincidental and Shoaib isn’t Dawood.
Stunt-man
But Hashmi admits that he’s done some daredevil action sequences, the most notable being a fist fight that continues even as he jumps from one boat to the next. He agrees that he could have been seriously injured if he had missed his footing and says that it’s only when you take such risks that you learn to respect a stuntman’s job.
“Milan was using a steadycam so he wanted to film the fight in one shot. So I had to be perfectly coordinated. The other actors were waving hammers and axes which only added to the risk. But as you can see, I’m still in one piece,” he smiles. Quiz him on his family’s reaction to such daredevilry and he says that he’s kept the stunts a secret from wife Parveen. He says, “She’d get paranoid if she knew.”
