'LIFE TOOK A 360-DEGREES TURN'

‘Acting happened quite by accident. It chose me.’ To be cast in the lead in Raaz 2 and Raaz 3 felt almost surreal.’

After making waves with his latest negative avatar in Tiger 3, Emraan Hashmi doesn’t mind going back to the kind of movies that made him a star.

He doesn’t mind giving us another Raaz or Jannat if it fulfills his main condition.

“I’ve always been fascinated by horror and if we can crack a story that is novel and unpredictable, I’ll definitely be open to another Raaz,”

You are an actor with perhaps the most hit sequels to your name, from Murder, Raaz, Jannat and now Tiger. With franchises growing into universes, how do you feel about this trend?

It’s a tricky affair because while sequels guarantee a certain type of audience and create a pre-release buzz, you need to be smart enough to know what attracted them to the prequel so you can bring a new dimension to the next part.

That is difficult because unlike a standalone film, expectations rise with every new installment, particularly in the case of a franchise like Tiger which has been built over 10-plus years.

You started your journey as an assistant director on Raaz, going on to play the lead in Raaz 2 and Raaz 3, with a special appearance in Raaz R e b o o t . W h a t memories does the trend-setting horror series bring back? 

During Raaz, I was freshly exposed to this world, taking baby steps into the film industry.

Learning the ropes was fun, but also nerve-wrecking because I didn’t know what the hell was going on most of the time.

Also, I lacked focus having no idea what I was going to do with my life.

Acting happened quite by accident.