Emraan Hashmi has proved his acting prowess time and again, yet there is one tag a section of the audience refuses to let go of: the ‘Serial Kisser’. Thanks to films like Murder, Raaz 2, and Jannat, among others, along with Hashmi’s enduring charm and appeal. The actor has often poked fun at the image and played along with it, while also consciously showing audiences that there is much more to him than the moniker.
So when Awarapan 2 arrived in theatres and audiences realised there was no kissing scene, the internet predictably had questions. Of course, there are several Emraan Hashmi films without such scenes, including the original Awarapan, but that hasn’t stopped social media from having a field day with the fact. Anyone who has scrolled through enough reels lately will know exactly what we mean.
We caught up with Awarapan 2 writer Bilal Siddiqi and asked him about the running joke. He admits he finds the reactions funny, but says there was never any reason to force an intimate scene into the film simply because of Hashmi’s past image. More importantly, the team did not want to use the actor’s ‘Serial Kisser’ persona as a selling point if the story did not call for it.
Asked whether the lack of intimate scenes was a conscious decision, he explains, “There are two things to it. Part one did not have any such scenes. It was not like we’ve taken anything out that once belonged in it. That was, if I’m not wrong, one of the few Emraan films back in the day which didn’t have those scenes, and it didn’t work. But the times have changed. People don’t care about that as much as they once found the shock value in it when they were watching it back in the 2000s. But I don’t think that exists anymore.”
He continues, “Secondly, from a story perspective, we didn’t find any organic way to bring it in. There’s a hint and an opportunity of love that he could explore, but he kind of let that go for a greater good. That was the arc we wanted. So we didn’t ever look at it as a way of cashing in on his old persona of a serial kisser or whatever. It was about just being as true to the story as possible. I’m seeing those reels too, and I find them very funny. But it’s not what the story required. We didn’t even really discuss it as its own topic. The story just never had room to do all of this.”
Meanwhile, Awarapan 2 brings Emraan Hashmi back as Shivam Pandit nearly two decades after the original was released. The film opened on August 14 and has gone on to cross the ₹100-crore mark in India, significantly surpassing the theatrical performance of the 2007 original, which went on to develop a cult following despite its modest box-office run. The sequel has also become Emraan’s biggest solo ₹100-crore hit.
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