Behind closet doors: Emraan Hashmi

The actor is obsessed with watches; says he heads to watch stores when shopping overseas, only to get dragged out by his wife

The actor is obsessed with watches. So much so that he heads to watch stores when shopping overseas... only to get dragged out by his wife.

Emraan Hashmi at his Bandra apartment in Mumbai (Pratham Gokhale/HT)

The watch collector: “I have a penchant for watches. I’m freakishly obsessed with buying them. While travelling, I usually hit a watch store first and get dragged out. I’ve lately had to put a lid on it because my wife said it’s gotten too much and we’ll have to sell the house if my watch shopping continues.”

VIDEO: Check out Emraan’s enviable watch collection

Denim love: “I love jeans. I have an entire cupboard filled with stacks of jeans, and it’s got to the point where I keep washing and wearing the same ones because the new ones are lying somewhere around the bottom. I think the cupboard will break one of these days.”

Comfort above all: “Style is individualistic and I prefer mine to be easy and comfortable. If it looks like I’m trying too hard, then maybe it’s not for me. I’m more of a jeans and T-shirts kind of a person and given Mumbai’s climate, the combination works best. I do have a formal set of clothes reserved for social events and weddings but that’s used sparingly.”

Colour coding: “My favourite colours are black, white and blue. If I have to head out, I’ll throw on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. I like green and red too, but I stay away from yellow, especially something like a bright yellow shirt.”

Emraan Hashmi’s watch collection (Pratham Gokhale/HT)

Easy does it: “I’m not an impulsive shopper anymore; I was once upon a time. But I’ve gotten sick of the whole process of going into a mall and shopping. I do shop a bit when I’m overseas. My wife orders clothes [for me] online and knows the best places to shop from. Even if I’m overseas, she selects something from there so I can pick it up.”

Brand value: “Diesel is an absolute favourite — I have a lot of jeans and t-shirts from that brand. I like G-Star jeans as well. For T-shirts, I also like Replay and Dsquared2. I’m obsessed with Hugo Boss as a brand and I have several different pieces from their collection.”

Style no-no: “I don’t think really short shorts are meant for men. Also, when selecting an outfit, the weather and climate conditions are crucial. Anything that is not in line is kind of a faux pas.”

Quick Dresser: “If I’m given five minutes to get dressed, that is a lot of time. I could easily pick out three to four different options within that time frame.”

Splurge: My most lavish buy has to be my Audemars Piguet watch.”

When he wore mismatched slippers: “When I was in college, I remember walking into Prithvi (café) with mismatched slippers. After almost four hours, I look down and see a red slipper on one foot and a blue one on the other.”

Torn jeans: “I’m really attached to my jeans. In fact, I have a pair of really old jeans from my college days. They’re ripped now, but I wear them sometimes.”