Emraan Hashmi, known for his commercial and off-beat films, reveals how the number-game is harming creative liberty in Bollywood.
Emraan Hashmi feels Bollywood today is so obsessed with trade collections that it not only takes away the thrill of working, but also makes the actors jittery.
Emraan has featured in several blockbuster films like Murder, Gangster and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, apart from starring in relatively smaller movies like Shanghai and Ek Thi Daayan.
The actor has tried to strike a balance between commercial and off-beat movies with films like The Dirty Picture and dark-comedy Ghanchakkar. His recent films, however, did not perform well at the box office, including Hamari Adhuri Kahani, Mr X and Raja Natwarlal.
When asked if the box office pressure dictates an actor's choice of films, Emraan said, "In some films it does, in some films you like to take a risk. But I think the more you have news articles coming out, the media talking about these terms, then it also gets the actors jittery. They are afraid of trying something new."
The Jannat star feels either an actor will be afraid to move out of his comfort zone or will be forced to try new things as that is something, which the industry dictates. "Either that or the actors are pushed to try something new. Because the industry dictates, 'Ok he is not doing anything new, so he should do something new'. But no one really knows what works or doesn't work," he said.
The actor, whose latest Azhar released on Friday, swears he never gets "swayed" by the numbers and feels the talk about film business is annoying. "I have never been swayed by the numbers. It is a bit annoying because everyone has become a trade pundit. You go to the street and your watchman is telling you how much your film has collected, it has come down to that," Emraan said. "Your driver knows about the trade collections. I say, 'Just watch the film and enjoy, why are you telling me numbers'. Even my family, friends who are not from the industry, know how much weekend business a movie has done," he said.
Emraan also has an issue with audience judging a film just by the 'star ratings'.
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