Emraan Hashmi calls Bollywood 'soft target', slams those who say it's 'full of drugs': 'There is no other industry...'

After impressing everyone with his acting chops as a villain in Salman Khan-starrer Tiger 3, the actor is all set to entertain the audience with his upcoming series Showtime. In a recent interview that actor opened up on how Bollywood has been a victim of “skewed negative perception".

In an interview with Indian Express, Emraan Hashmi says that Bollywood has become a soft target and also took a dig at those who 'like to bash' the industry. He said, "There’s a perception, especially in the last three years, which has become very skewed towards an overtly negative perception. That everything that’s wrong (in society), happens in Bollywood. Drugs, wild parties, promiscuity and everything. I don’t know where that suddenly came about in the last three years, but it amped up to another level." 

He added, "We (Bollywood) have become more of a soft target. Wild perceptions are being put out there and even more so now on social media. Thats far from true. People just like to bash this industry." 

He further added that negativity is true even for the nepotism debate and said, "There are enough outsiders who have are a success story than the ‘no kids’. It’s an industry where both these worlds coexist. It’s a very secular industry, where you have people from all walks of life, of all castes, ideologies, and languages. They all come together for the sole purpose of entertaining the audience, which is beautiful." 

He added, "But sometimes people get the platform to talk about it, and the spotlight on them gives them this bit of fame and that’s why they like to do it. There’s no other industry where they’ll critique it and get that level of fame for themselves. So, this industry is a soft target that way." 

Helmed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar, written by Sumit Roy, Lara Chandni, and Mithun Gangopadhyay. The series is produced by Apoorva Mehta, Somen Mishra, and Mihir Desai and boasts of an ensemble cast including Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Mahima Makwana, Mouni Roy, Vijay Raaz, and Shriya Saran along with others in key roles and is scheduled to release on Disney+ Hotstar on March 8.