Emraan Hashmi and Yami Gautam Dhar were in Delhi recently to meet the winners of the latest edition of HT City Stars In The City. The actors, who will soon be seen together in Haq, were game for any questions that came their way.
The conversation with Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor-Entertainment & Lifestyle, began with a light-hearted chat about Delhi and its food, but soon ventured into serious territory. The duo’s upcoming film, revolving around the landmark Shah Bano case, deals with a sensitive theme: a divorced Muslim woman fighting for maintenance from her husband:
On a scale of 1-10, when you heard that Haq is inspired by the Shah Bano case, how jittery were you thinking this is controversial?
Yami: Controversy, debate, discussion — that is not the first thought as an artiste. It’s always how I feel after reading the script. Of course, it’s the powerful story of a very courageous woman back in the 1980s. Today, there are multiple conversations to express what we want, what can be done to make things better. Back in the day, there was nothing of that sort. That woman did it without the intent of making it controversial, but just to literally do what every mother does for their child. How can she provide the best for her children? I thought Haq was a wonderfully written script.
Emraan: There were questions when I signed this film. I have done films of a certain nature. But it’s very important as an actor to do a gamut of characters. That, for me, is growth as an artiste. If you don’t risk things, that’s not art, that’s empty marketing. You do those popcorn flicks that release and are forgotten after the first week of theatrical release, which is fine, that’s part of business. But films (like Haq) are important, too. You want to do films that leave behind a message and will stay in people’s conversations... Haq is not singling out people from a certain community or maligning it. It’s about people from a community; it could be any community.
Yami, you have the image now of being the poster girl for nationalism. People think you are sticking to tradition when other women in Bollywood are more westernised. Were you told that Shah Bano’s case supports a nationalistic cause of common laws in the country, and was that a reason to do this film?
{{/usCountry}}Emraan: There were questions when I signed this film. I have done films of a certain nature. But it’s very important as an actor to do a gamut of characters. That, for me, is growth as an artiste. If you don’t risk things, that’s not art, that’s empty marketing. You do those popcorn flicks that release and are forgotten after the first week of theatrical release, which is fine, that’s part of business. But films (like Haq) are important, too. You want to do films that leave behind a message and will stay in people’s conversations... Haq is not singling out people from a certain community or maligning it. It’s about people from a community; it could be any community.
Yami, you have the image now of being the poster girl for nationalism. People think you are sticking to tradition when other women in Bollywood are more westernised. Were you told that Shah Bano’s case supports a nationalistic cause of common laws in the country, and was that a reason to do this film?
{{/usCountry}}If there is any other motivation for me to choose the kind of roles that I do other than creative, the whole purpose of being an artiste fails.
Emraan, your recent role in The Ba***ds of Bollywood went viral. How’s it been?
First of all, that line ‘Akkha Bollywood ek taraf, Emraan Hashmi ek taraf’ was a masterstroke by writers Bilal Siddiqui and Aryan Khan (also director of the series). That was not the original scene written for me! At first, (my character) was supposed to be at a film premiere, and (actor) Raghav Juyal’s character starts crying as he sees me. But one month before the show’s shoot, (the role) became an intimacy coordinator. Aryan called Bilal, and then I was asked if I was okay doing it. I was like, ‘If I can’t play an intimacy coordinator, nobody else can!’ Shah Rukh (Khan, actor) sir loved the idea, and we shot the scene. There was a lot of improv… Raghav’s crying had us in splits. We didn’t expect that he would go to that level of OTT (over the top)! You don’t know what goes viral and sticks with the audience.
How did your son Ayaan react to the show’s popularity?
Life hasn’t changed after the show; I realised it’s something fans have been missing, a vintage version of what people had seen. My son, though, is embarrassed about it. In school, they had to facilitate things, either head a certain society or something. All his friends said, ‘Why don’t you become an intimacy coach?’ He’s like, ‘You have ruined things for me at school! (laughs)’