Before Awarapan 2 tests his comeback, we revisit the 10 films that made Emraan Hashmi the ultimate frontbencher favourite.
Key Points
- Emraan Hashmi's Awarapan 2 releases on August 14, alongside Sunny Deol's Batwara 1947.
- Awarapan 2 is seen as a potential comeback for Emraan Hashmi, leveraging the cult following of the original Awarapan.
- Many of Hashmi's successful films, like Jannat and Murder 2, are noted for their engaging storylines and popular soundtracks.
Once upon a time, Emraan Hashmi had a strong following. His movies had this blend of elements that brought crowds to the theatres. They had decent storylines, which were mostly ripped off from Korean movies or other cinema, titillation scenes (there is a reason why Emraan Hashmi was once known as the 'Serial Kisser'), and, more importantly, they had great soundtracks, with many songs later found to have been lifted or inspired by Arabic or Korean songs.
He had such clout that when Raghav Juyal's character in The Ba***ds Of Bollywood (2025) declared, 'Akka Bollywood ek taraf aur Emraan Hashmi ek taraf...' you almost agreed with him.
'Almost' because the clout that the actor enjoys is more embedded in nostalgia than what the current scenario suggests.
Hashmi hasn't delivered a solo hit since 2012's Raaz 3. He has been trying out different genres and taking on more performance-oriented roles, but that hasn't resulted in commercial successes.
Recently, he has been more drawn to negative-shaded characters, like in Tiger 3 (2023) and Haq (2025), and even made his debut in Telugu cinema as a villain in They Call Him OG (2025).
So will Emraan Hashmi finally secure his box office comeback with Awarapan 2? The film is attempting a rare cinematic feat: launching a hit sequel off the back of a predecessor that originally flopped but gained a massive cult following over the years.
The verdict arrives on August 14, when Awarapan 2 clashes with the might of Sunny Deol in Batwara 1947.
So while we anticipate whether that comeback will be successful, Sreeju Sudhakaran picks out Emraan Hashmi's 10 best films and ranks them from decent to awesome.
PS: Originality is unfortunately the benchmark I have to ignore for some of the selections here, otherwise the list would end with only a couple of entries.
10. Jannat (2008)
A film that thrives on the message 'crime is cool till the payoff happens', a theme that recurs in quite a few Emraan Hashmi movies, Jannat is set against the backdrop of cricket betting that once used to hog the national headlines.
Hashmi plays this street-smart bookie who dreams of living the good life and falls in love with this beautiful girl, only to find that his girlfriend isn't a fan of his career.
Jannat had some good songs, executes the rags-to-riches-to-ashes storyline decently, the romantic track hits well and the tragic climax even more so. It tries an encore with the sequel, Jannat 2, which came out in 2012, but was quite a disappointment. It still had good songs, though.
9. The Dirty Picture (2011)
Milan Luthria brought Silk Smitha's tragic life to celluloid (it is heavily inspired by her life, not an actual biopic), anchored by a National Award-winning powerhouse performance from Vidya Balan.
The Dirty Picture often feels like it is capitalising heavily on a real-life tragedy. However, what undeniably still works is Vidya's fearless turn. She completely owns the screen, chewing through Rajat Arora's dialogue with vindictive panache.
Naseeruddin Shah impresses as a vain superstar who refuses to act his age, and so did Emraan Hashmi as a 'serious' director who despises everything 'Silk' represents in cinema.
While the narrative boasts real audacity in its unapologetic presentation of Silk, it unfortunately descends into heavy melodrama to force a romantic subplot and a tragic finale.
8. Kalyug (2005)
A remake of the Nicolas Cage starrer 8MM (1999), Emraan Hashmi takes on the supporting role played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original, whose punk look as an adult video shop owner had caught attention then.
There is a certain Ramayana-esque vibe to the plot here, where the character of Kunal Kemmu, in his lead debut, is determined to destroy the whole porn empire after his wife is snatched away from him (by death actually) following the leak of their intimate video.
The Raavans are the ones heading the racket, like Simi, played by an excellent Amrita Singh, while Hashmi's character helps him out in his mission.
So you can make the parallels to whichever mythological character you can associate him with. Except Emraan's character ain't a 'chiranjeevi' like his mythological counterpart.
7. Gangster (2006)
Gangster hasn't quite aged well in casting when you remember, who played two of the three leads, one being accused of sexual assault and the other spouting all sorts of nonsense in support of the politics of her party.
If you try hard to ignore that, then Anurag Basu's Gangster is a well-made crime drama about a woman caught between her feelings for her gangster rescuer and a singer, her conscience-keeper who has his own secrets.
Kangana Ranaut makes a scintillating debut as the emotionally-damaged female lead, a persona that would almost typecast her role choices ahead, and Emraan Hashmi proves yet again that no one plays a morally compromised character quite like him.
Pritam's soundtrack perfectly anchors the mesmerising atmosphere, provided you can ignore the glaring reality that most of those beloved tracks are completely unoriginal.
6. Raaz: The Mystery Continues (2009)
While the first Raaz (2002) has enjoyed a cult legacy, it lacked certain elements to make it a good horror movie. One of them, namely, Emraan Hashmi.
Jokes apart, Hashmi has become a consistent part of the franchise since the sequel, but the Mohit Suri-directed film stood tall among the rest.
A primary reason for the same is the commendable performances from Kangana and Hashmi, some well-timed scares and a smartly written mystery that comes with decent social messaging.
Also, yeah, the songs were quite wholesome too, particularly Soniyo and Maahi.
5. Murder 2 (2011)
Another case of a sequel surpassing the first film. Murder 2 was a better-directed film than the first Murder (2004), even if its plot was lifted straight from the Korean film The Chaser (2008).
The film drew in the crowds then for the sensual scenes between Emraan Hashmi and Jacqueline Fernandez, but they were left impressed by the dark, brooding plotline and the excellent performance from Prashant Narayanan as the serial killer who murders sex workers.
If Awarapan 2 becomes a hit, expect immediate announcements of Murder 4 (yes, there was a Murder 3, with no 'murder' in it), and Raaz Reboot Once More.
4. Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010)
Drawing inspiration from the lives of real-world gangsters Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim, Milan Luthria delivers a gripping romantic crime drama with powerhouse performances from the core cast of Ajay Devgn, Kangana Ranaut, Emraan Hashmi and Randeep Hooda.
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai operates as an unabashed fanboy letter to 1980s cinema. It enthusiastically recreates the magic of that era through bombastic dialogues, a colourful retro aesthetic and a total willingness to wear its masala-filled heart on its sleeve.
Luthria effectively balances the tender romance between Sultan Mirza (Devgn) and Rehana (Ranaut) against the ruthless, calculated rise of the opportunistic Shoaib (Hashmi), with the drama going through all the right dramatic motions.
3. Awarapan (2007)
Awarapan is the remake of the Korean film A Bittersweet Life (2005), with its beautiful songs that have entrenched the film within fans' memories, even if, like the movie, those loved songs aren't original creations either.
But what works for Awarapan is how Mohit Suri turns the hidden subtext of what made the protagonist of the Korean film so brooding into a heartbreaking love story, and injects spirituality into his redemption, which is why the whole Tera Mera Rishta sequence clicks so well.
Awarapan is also easily one of Emraan Hashmi's best performances, if not the best, which is reserved for the film at the number one spot. Ashutosh Rana and Purab Kohli were impressive as the antagonists.
2. Ek Thi Daayan (2013)
Sure, that ending was disappointing but until then, Kannan Iyer's directorial debut was a spellbinding journey of atmospheric suspense and horror revolving around the myth of child-killing witches, with a spooky performance from Konkona Sensharma.
The whole flashback portion about the protagonist's childhood and the resultant tragedy as a result of his meddling with the supernatural is easily the movie's most gripping portion.
Elsewhere, Hashmi shines as the protagonist, a magician, tormented by the thought that his past trauma is going to return at any moment. Unfortunately for him, it does.
1. Shanghai (2012)
Dibakar Banerjee masterfully adapted the 1969 French classic Z to the Indian milieu, making Shanghai one of the finest political dramas to be made in Indian cinema.
And what a cast he brought in!
Emraan Hashmi, Supriya Pathak, Abhay Deol, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Kalki Koechlin and the late Farooque Shaikh all go in guns blazing with their performances.
Shanghai allowed Hashmi to break out of his usual 'conventional' roles, making him look, errr... not handsome with his uncouth appearance and tooth-gapped smile, while still making him play a character with shady career choices.
Elsewhere, Abhay Deol shines as perhaps one of the rare North Indian actors to pull off a convincing Tamil accent.
Revisit Shanghai today, and the viewing experience feels unnervingly current withs its sharp satire of a deeply broken system remaining completely relevant.
The ruthless suppression of socialist voices and the relentless rise of an all-consuming political-capitalist nexus prove that society has barely moved an inch since the movie first hit theatres.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
