Delhiites caught up with Emraan Hashmi during his visits to the city for movie promotions. A hearty laugh over the ‘serial kisser’ tag and his confidence was an added element to his personality.
How hard was it for you to prepare for Azhar?
We started off with a lot of research material curated by the direction team to actually get into the shoes of Azhar. Initial two-three months were all about archive matches, videos on Youtube, reading through the script and almost every newspaper cutting about Mohammad Azharuddin. Understanding his mannerisms, body language, the way he plays cricket was a different ball game altogether. I took a training of three months from Azhar bhai on his body language and cricket skills. I used to click his photographs to understand his movements.
Preparing for the biopic calls for thorough practice. How was this done?
The emotional experience of whatever he went through as a captain when there was an allegation; for all these things needed a lot of mental prep and a lot of discussions with tony, the director, which led to a lot of clarity.
On a lighter note, how many kissing scenes are there in the film?
(Laughs) I never keep a count, Prachi did. It is my co-stars who keep a check on this.
Cast of Azhar at Dusit Devrana, New Delhi
You have mostly taken up roles of a ‘boy-next-door’ identity. How was it to play such a serious role?
I still remember how thrilled I was when I got a call from Mohammad Azharuddin. There was a lot of experience involved in the whole making. It is like, if you are doing a fictional film, you are just bound by a script. But when you make a film on a popular sportsperson, you only have a limited room; you have to be accurate. The other thing, we wanted Azhar Bhai to be proud of the film.
How much did you sweat it out during the training for this film?
My training sessions were extremely difficult. I had a coach who made me practice initially. From the first day, I was more comfortable at the off-side. He is obviously exception at off-side and exceptional at the leg-side. My wrist used to hurt (laughs). I had to actually put in 100-123 balls in a day. This was actually the most grilling part of the character.
The Dapper Due – Emraan Hashmi
If match is for cricket, what is it for Bollywood?
I guess it is piracy. There are a lot of things that could destroy the industry and are working against us. We generally see that if a film releases on a Friday and it is out on sale the next day or even the same day. All this actually kills the market and hits the producers very hard. There should be some law and enforcement to keep a check on all this.
