Abstract
Conventionally, male protagonists of Bollywood have validated the significance of Indian morality through its embodiment or a climactic return after an initial digression. In the twenty-first century, the sensibilities of the globalized youth graduated to an acceptance of a flawed or fallen hero. One of the earliest desecrations of Indian morality was the visibility of on-screen kissing in some movies which was also the highlight of the movie. Rising high on the tide of this change was Emraan Hashmi who earned the sobriquet of “serial kisser”. Prior to this era, kissing was unfavourable for the movie business as it not only faced the ire of the censorship board, but, such movies were also shunned by the masses. This was on account of the fact that movies were generally viewed with families. Moreover, Hashmi secured his “bad boy” image by portraying dark roles which ranged from slightly devious to utterly immoral. His popularity among the youth was sealed with an array of chartbusters which earned him another moniker “the #1 Hit Machine”. The study would, then, analyse the strategies involved in his projection as an anti-hero and its success amidst the context of the substantial changes in the society, which led to his incorporation in mainstream Bollywood movies. It adapts Dyer’s concept of “The Rebel” onto the trope of globalized Bollywood audiences. According to this, it is this image which garners much fanfare but, in turn, also restricts their on-screen character acceptability in terms of portrayal of other roles. The paper argues that it is his image, which has prevented a successful transition to the more universal positive “hero” image. When posited on the wider map of the ideological and cultural contestations of classes versus masses, this subversive image renders him inappropriate towards his inclusion among the premier Bollywood heroes. The paper will employ an in-depth analysis of discourses around his media coverage, choice of films, audiences’ expectations which will accentuate the salient characteristics of his brand of subversive stardom.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Multiplex audiences are indicative of the socio-economic class located in cities that compose the viewing audience of the multiplexes. Owing to the availability of multi-screens, such audiences reflect an eclectic taste for consumption of different kinds of movies (Ganti 2004). Also referred to as the middle-class intellectuals, it is the chief patron of cinematic avant-garde.
- 2.
Bollywood movie audiences are classified on the basis of their socio-economic location which is said to determine their viewing preferences (Srivastava 2009). This kind of audience, located in Tier II and Tier III towns and having access to single screens, is associated with consuming escapist, formula-based movies. Thus, movies, featuring stars that have a loyal fan base, achieve monetary gains.
- 3.
Sherawat positioned herself as a sex symbol with a bold portrayal in her debut movie Khwahish (Menon 2003). It was promoted as a movie with 17 kisses and became a runaway hit for the voyeuristic pleasures it offered. This catapulted her into the league with other popular stars of Bollywood, and, at the time of release of Murder (2004), she was a bigger star than both of her male counterparts, one of which was Hashmi.
- 4.
Kumar (2016) identifies these fringe movies as exhibition-circuit which involves the process of production of a body of small-budget movies which can be situated into a common category. Citing Bourdieu, he states that these are considered devoid of any cultural capital. According to him, the audiences of these movies in suburban towns consist of males only, primarily “working class regulars, compulsive filmgoers and students on the run from schools” (Kumar 2016).
- 5.
- 6.
According to Weber, ideal types act as heuristic devices to define a concept.
- 7.
Kissing was largely avoided by filmmakers due to objections by censor boards and its unacceptability by those viewers who watched it along with their families.
References
Bhatt, M. (2014). Koffee with Karan: Season 4, February 26. (K. Johar, Interviewer).
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chopra, A. (2012, October 21). Vogue Years. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from https://www.vogue.in/content/emraan-hashmi-being-bollywoods-most-successful-rebel/.
Creekmur, C. (2007). Bombay Bhai: The gangster in and behind popular Hindi cinema. In C. C. Sidel (Ed.), Cinema, Law, and the State in Asia (pp. 29–43). New York: Palgrave Macmillan US.
Durham, M. G. (2007). Sex in the transnational city: Discourses of gender, body and nation in the ‘new bollywood’. In M. G. Durham (Ed.), Sex in the transnational city: Discourses of gender, body and national cinema, law and the state in Asia (pp. 45–62). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dyer, R. (1979). Stars. London: British Film Institute.
Ganti, T. (2004). Bollywood: A guidebook to popular Hindi cinema. New York: Routledge.
Greenberg, C. (1939). Avantgarde and Kitsch. NA: NA.
Kumar, A. (2016). Bhojpuri cinema and the “Rearguard”: Gendered Leisure, gendered promises. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 151–175.
Mahmood, R. (2012, May 16). The Express Tribune. Retrieved August 8, 2017, from https://tribune.com.pk/story/379804/emraan-hashmi-from-serial-kisser-to-serious-actor/.
Prasad, M. M. (1998). Ideology of the Hindi film: A historical construction. New Delhi: Oxford India Paperbacks.
Prusa, I. (2013, April 30). Electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies. Retrieved October 25, 2017, from http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/ejcjs/vol16/iss1/prusa.html.
Screen. (2015, January 23). The Indian Express. Retrieved August 2, 2017, from http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/screen/dont-be-an-emraan-hashmi-one-is-bad-enough-mahesh-bhatt/.
Sen, S. (2005, April 18). rediff.com. Retrieved September 5, 2017, from http://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/apr/18bhatt.htm.
Shafer, D. M., & Raney, A. A. (2012). Exploring how we enjoy antihero narratives. Journal of Communication, 62(6), 1028–1046.
Singh, P. (2011, December 21). Emraan Hashmi hungry to enter Rs. 10 crore club. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from http://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/emraan-hashmi-hungry-to-enter-rs-10-crore-club/story-sP2yv2pr1sP5hq5c1XHBGP.html.
Srivastava, N. (2009). Bollywood as national(ist) cinema: Violence, patriotism and the national‐popular in Rang De Basanti. Third Text, 703–716.
Virdi, J. (1993). Jump cut: A review of contemporary media. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC38folder/Deewar.html.
Weber, M. (1952). The essentials of bureaucratic organization: An ideal-type construction. Reader in Bureaucracy, 19–21.
Filmography
Basu, A. (2004). Murder. Vishesh Films.
Basu, A. (2006). Gangster. Vishesh Films.
Banerjee, D. (2012). Shanghai. Dibakar Banerjee Productions.
Bhandarkar, M. (2011). Dil Toh Bachha Hai Ji. Bhandarkar Entertainment and Wide Frame Films.
Bhatt, V. (2003). Footpath. Vishesh Films.
Bhatt, V. (2016). Raaz Reboot. Vishesh Films.
Burmawalla, A., & Burmawalla, M. (1993). Baazigar. Venus Worldwide Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Chopra, Y. (1993). Darr. Yash Raj Films.
Deshmukh, K. (2008). Jannat. Vishesh Films.
D’Silva, R. (2014). Ungli. Dharma Productions.
Dwyer, R. (2002). Real and Imagined Audiences: “Lagaan” and the Hindi Film after the 1990s. Etnofoor, 177–193.
Dyer, R. (2004). The culture of Queers. London: Routledge.
Gupta, R. K. (2013). Ghanchakkar. UTV Motion Pictures.
Iyer, K. (2013). Ek Thi Daayan. Vishal Bharadwaj Pictures Pvt Ltd.
Luthria, M. (2010). Once Upon a Time in Mumbai. Balaji Motion Pictures.
Luthria, M. (2011). The Dirty Picture. Balaji Motion Pictures.
Luthria, M. (2017). Baadshaho. T-Series and Vertex Motion Pictures.
Mahadevan, A. (2006). Aksar. Narendra Bajaj and Shyam Bajaj.
Menon, G. (2003). Khwahish. Vivek Nayak.
Rawail, R. (1994). Anjaam. Shiv Bharat Films.
Suri, M. (2007). Awarapan. Vishesh Films.
Suri, M. (2015). Hamari Adhuri Kahani. Vishesh Films and Fox Star Studios.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Basu Chaudhuri, S. (2020). The Suave Anti-hero: Deconstructing the Subversive Stardom of Emraan Hashmi in Globalized Times. In: Viswamohan, A., Wilkinson, C. (eds) Stardom in Contemporary Hindi Cinema. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0191-3_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0191-3_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-0190-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-0191-3
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)