No one is counting kisses sitting in the theatres: Emraan Hashmi

He has held on to the serial kisser tag for well over a decade now and it seems no matter how disillusioned actor Emraan Hashmi has become, his audience isn’t willing to let go of the actor’s on-screen kisser image. In fact, in the middle, Emraan had even decided not to kiss on screen just for the sake of his audience. However, as is evident from his last release Azhar and the trailer of his upcoming movie Raaz Reboot, he has had to cave in to the pressure.

Interestingly, while his disillusionment with kissing was one reason, the other reason Emraan had decided to refrain from on screen smooches was the fact that he had to buy his wife a bag to pacify her after every kiss, he jokes. “My wife’s wardrobe was overflowing with bags!” he adds with a laugh.

“I did resolve to stop kissing on screen. In the middle, I had to kiss for my international film Tiger (directed by Danis Tanovic), but then they don’t make a big deal out of kissing on screen in international movies. In India it is. And it seems that the audience wants to see me kiss on screen, so I didn’t have a choice.”

Emraan adds that it is solely for the sake of the audience that he does it. “The image amuses me. And I’ve come to terms with the fact that my audience wants me to kiss on screen. But I can’t say that I enjoy the image or the process of smooching on screen itself.” He adds that he is baffled by the public demand to kiss.

“I don’t think the young audience in India is kiss-crazy. There is a misguided perception within the industry that kissing and bikinis help sell a film. I don’t think anyone goes to the movies to just see such things. No one is counting kisses sitting in the theatres.”