Can Emraan Hashmi be an international name

Just a few weeks before the release of Emraan Hashmi's Raja Natwarlal on August 29, Bosnian writer-director Dani Tanovic, who won the best foreign language film Oscar for No Man's Land, in process beating, was in India to put the finishing touches to his film, Tigers. Tanovic's sixth feature, his first in Hindi, is based on the true story of Pakistani pharmaceutical salesman Syad Aamir Raza, who went against the powerful international corporation he was working for after he discovered that it was selling baby formulas which were killing infants. Emraan Hashmi essays the role of Ayaan, (another name for Syad in the film) and National Award-winning actress Geetanjali Thapa is Zainab, Ayaan's wife.

Seated at JW Marriott in Juhu, I encouraged Tanovic and his screenwriter-friend Andy Paterson to go and watch Hashmi's latest Bollywood film, to see another side of his leading man. (At one point, Hashmi scratches his crotch in the film.) But they didn't show much enthusiasm, primarily because Tanovic was battling against time to finish the background score of the film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8.

It was filmmaker Anurag Kashyap who mentioned Hashmi to Tanovic when the latter was looking for an actor for the lead role of Ayaan. Hashmi made an impression on the director in their first meeting. "He is a really quiet guy," said Tanovic of Hashmi. "I try to feel the energy of people when I meet them and I liked his."

Early reviews of the film describe how Tanovic has used footage of real sick and dying infants to put forward his point about the heartlessness of the corporation. That Hashmi himself had endured the parental trauma of a child battling sickness - his four-year-old son, also named Ayaan, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year - made the part more personal for the actor. "It is the hardest thing that can happen in your life," said Tanovic, himself a parent to five children. "The death of a child is the worst nightmare to any parent."

Tanovic isn't familiar with Hashmi's Bollywood oeuvre, having seen only "one or two of his films". The Hashmi film which convinced Tanovic most in his skills was Shanghai, Dibakar Banerjee's 2012 political thriller inspired by Costa Gravas's Z. Added Tanovic, "I told him, 'Thank God I have not seen your Bollywood films, I would have run away.' It only proves he is a good actor."

Having escaped the director's radar are such films as Gangster, The Killer, Good Boy Bad Boy, Awarapan and Crook. As the titles suggest, Hashmi has carved a niche as the anti-hero, a fool in love who croons ballads (many of them chartbusters which still play in autos in Mumbai) and runs into trouble with the law. He manages to woo the hottest girl and is loaded with money. Hashmi's characters may not have the physical strength to beat up innumerable goons, but what they supposedly do have are stealthy and calculating minds which can deceive people. Hashmi has a boy-next-door appeal which makes the masses connect to him. His co-star in Tigers, National Award-winning actor Geetanjali Thapa, said of him: "He has no airs whatsoever. He is so hard-working. He was always ready for everything."

Hashmi has had an interesting cinematic journey since he made his debut in 2003 with Footpath. He is still trying to get rid of the tag of Bollywood's "serial kisser", which he recently tried, rather unsuccessfully, to pass on to his cousin, Alia Bhatt. But things changed in 2010 when he yet again played a gangster in Balaji-produced Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, a huge hit. A year later came The Dirty Picture, another hit in which he made an impact in a supporting part.

But it was with Banerjee that Hashmi showed his real potential. Unfortunately for him, his first attempt in getting out of his comfort zone didn't pay off at the box office. Last year, Hashmi continued his experimental streak and did Raj Kumar Gupta's Ghanchakkar, a quirky dark comedy, which again didn't work. But what these films have shown is that the actor likes to do more than franchise films or play gangster for a living.

With Tigers, Hashmi looks to enter a new phase of his career. He seeks to prove that he can shuttle easily between the two worlds: the mainstream, commercial fare and the independent, small-budget movies. It's also his first international production, with the producers including Kashyap and Guneet Monga. His presence improves the chances of the film getting a theatrical release in India.

Bollywood needs more actors like Hashmi who are not averse to taking risks. By doing Tigers, Hashmi has proved that poor box office collections of his less-formulaic work won't compel him to do only routine roles. That's an encouraging sign. Here's hoping that Hashmi's roar will be heard.