Emraan Hashmi and Sonal Chauhan in town on Friday. Picture by Aranya Sen

He hasn’t had a release since June 2007, but Emraan Hashmi isn’t worried. And why should he be? The reception the Bollywood bad boy received when he came calling on Calcutta last Friday to promote his new film Jannat was proof of a plentiful fan following. Screaming college goers, mothers with their teenaged daughters and even some who had given office a miss for the day had all lined up just to catch a glimpse of the man.

Paradise cinema on Bentinck Street got a taste of the mania in the morning, with crowds holding up traffic for hours. After a quick stopover at the Red FM studio, it was Fame South City that was deluged with Emraan fans in the evening. The rest of the Jannat cast and crew — leading lady Sonal Chauhan, debutant director Kunal Deshmukh and producer Mukesh Bhatt — were all but ignored.

After the chaos, the crew finally got down to work at a press conference at Fame South City, speaking about the Jannat experience and their day in Calcutta....

Emraanspeak

“Jannat is the kind of role that comes by very rarely in an actor’s career and I feel blessed that I was chosen to play such a character,” smiled the actor, signing autographs by the dozen and posing for pictures. Clad in a green printed Lynyrd Skynyrd tee and blue jeans, the 17-film-old actor was his usual cool self. Even if the mass mania outside had rattled him, Emraan wasn’t letting it show.

“Actors live for this kind of love and adulation. So it’s great to see something like this although I wasn’t really expecting it,” he smiled.

His role of a small-time bookie who morphs into a big-league match fixer may be centred wholly around cricket, but Emraan isn’t much of a bat-and-ball fan. “I rarely watch cricket. In fact, I’m not much of a sports person,” is the honest confession. Despite his lack of interest in the game, Emraan is extremely upbeat about Jannat. “I have done a lot of research for the role. In fact, I met a couple of bookies just to understand the character a lot better.”

Emraan seems to like dark characters, and Jannat’s Arjun Dixit is another one to add to his CV. “I have always tried to take up characters that would appeal to the sensibilities of a movie-loving audience and such roles have fortunately clicked on most occasions. And though my character in Jannat does have shades of grey, Arjun is someone that the audience can empathise with,” he said.

Emraan has become a favourite face for the Bhatts. “Vishesh Films and the Bhatts are family. I feel at home working with them,” he admitted.

Once a six-films-a-year actor, Emraan is taking it slow at the moment. “I am doing Raaz 2 and a couple of other films that I can’t talk about now. And no, the project with Warner Bros is not happening at the moment.”

Emraan has always loved a little bit of controversy, so it was no surprise that he couldn’t leave Calcutta without kicking up a bit of dust. “I don’t believe in the numbers game and I think that actors who follow others and strive to build a six-pack body are fools,” scathed the Bollywood brat, taking aim at Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan in the same breath.

Sonalspeak

Sonal Chauhan may be one in a long line of models trying their luck in Bollywood, but the Delhi girl has signed three films even before the release of her debut Jannat.

She couldn’t stop smiling at the euphoric welcome that greeted the Jannat crew in Calcutta. “Even our Pakistan tour to promote the film was just as chaotic. It’s always a good sign when the audience shows so much interest in a film. If it wasn’t happening, then that would have been bad news,” said the leggy model.

Zoya, her quiet but strong character in Jannat, believes Sonal, was the best Bollywood beginning possible for a budding actress. “It’s a dream role for any newcomer. I go from playing a young call centre executive to a woman who stands by her man to a mother. That’s quite a bit for a first film,” she felt.

The chance to share screen space with Emraan was one of the reasons that prompted the former model to sign Jannat. “Emraan is a great co-star who never made me feel like I was a newcomer. That’s a sign of a good, professional actor,” smiled Sonal, whose birthday (May 16) coincided with Jannat’s release.

Kunalspeak

The maturity and eye for detail that debutant director Kunal Deshmukh has shown in Jannat have gone down well with audiences and critics. “Even Jaipur, which was under curfew till Thursday, recorded house-full shows on Friday morning,” said the quiet young man.

Having worked with the Bhatts as an assistant director on films like Zeher, Kalyug and Woh Lamhe, Kunal was well versed with the tricks of the trade before he made his own beginning. “But nothing gives you the kind of high that you get with directing your first film,” he added.

Describing Jannat as a mature love story which every Indian can identify with, Kunal has high expectations from the film. “I have been getting great reports from all across the country. Even the critics have been encouraging,” he grinned.

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