EMRAAN HASHMI

Emraan Hashmi (Hindi: इमरान हाश्मी, Urdu: عمران ہاشمی; born 24 March 1979 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India), is a Filmfare Award-nominated Indian actor.

Early life

Emraan Anwar Hashmi, was born to Anwar Hashmi and Maherahh Hashmi. After briefly changing his first name to "Farhaan", he decided to keep his original name.

Movie career

Hashmi made his movie debut in 2003 with the film Footpath which did not do well at the box office. He and co-star Mallika Sherawat shot to fame with Murder. He later appeared in such films as Zeher, Aashiq anaya Apne, Kalyug, and Gangster, which have done well at the box office. The soundtracks from these films have helped create a large fan base. Many of the songs from his movies have become instant hits. The playback singers for most of his film's songs have been Himesh Reshammiya, K.K, Kunal Ganjawala and Atif Aslam. In 2008 Emraan's first release Jannat had a 100% opening which made it a hit at the box office. His first movie in 2009, RAAZ TMC, was a box office success, while his second movie of the year, Tum Mile, was not a box office succes. Apart from the music that helped his career take off, his kissing scenes are well-received. Though not frequent, some of his other films have included scenes with kisses. Nicknamed "The serial kisser of Bollywood", he has expressed his desire to discontinue kissing and to be known as a mature actor. Throughout his film career, he has kissed most of the heroines in his films except in Footpath, Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets, Kalyug, Awarapan, The Killer, Dil Diya Hai, Good Boy Bad Boy, and Raaz - The Mystery Continues. 

Controversies

In July 2009, Hashmi claimed that a housing society in Mumbai's upmarket Pali Hill locality refused to grant him permission to buy an apartment because he was a Muslim. The housing society rejected the allegations and in turn accused Hashmi and his family of intimidatory behavior. Hashmi's allegations were condemned by other Muslim actors in Bollywood, especially Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan while the Indian-Islamic Cultural Center accused Hashmi of spurring communal tensions in India.

On 10 August 2009, Hashmi backtracked from his accusation and said that the housing society has not discriminated against him and termed the incident as a "miscommunication".