New Delhi: In Bads of Bollywood, Aryan Khan has given Emraan Hashmi his due in Bollywood. And, his fans, the liberty to celebrate him without shame.
Emraan had a brief appearance in the comedy-drama Netflix TV series. After all, who other than him in Bollywood could have played an ‘intimacy instructor’?
By weaving Hashmi’s energy into the show’s DNA, Khan acknowledged that Bollywood’s so-called ‘bad boy’ wasn’t just a guilty pleasure. He was a cultural phenomenon. He was, and remains, a movement.
Hashmi was an underrated star of the early 2000s. The man may not have had a Karan Johar film in his pocket or a Rs 500 crore box office success under his name, but he had something better: films with soundtracks that ran through the veins of a generation. He added freshness to early-2000s cinema with his brand of boldness and charisma.
That said, ‘chup chup ke’ was the unwritten code of his fans. His films mostly received ‘A’ certificate.
In a film industry obsessed with ‘good-boy’ images, Hashmi’s unapologetic screen persona—whether dropping to his knees in the middle of the road in Jannat or taking on bold scenes in the song Aashiq Banaya Aapne or doing intense kissing scenes in literally each of his films—got him the title of the ‘bad boy’.
Recently, fans on social media admitted to watching his filmography in a hush-hush manner.
But no one dared to put him on the same pedestal as the industry’s darlings. Only a few had the courage to admit that they were true-blue Emraan fans. His fandom was always muted, buried under guilty pleasures.
After all, his image was reduced to just being the ‘serial kisser.’
After the untimely demise of KK in 2022, whose voice defined almost every Emraan Hashmi hit, fan pages on Instagram began revisiting his filmography.
Now, with his cameo in Ba***ds of Bollywood, Hashmi, who has long shifted away from his signature bold image with films like Ground Zero, Selfiee, Tiger 3 and Chehre, and got the chance to revive his boyhood charm.
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Long-awaited justice
Raghav Juyal, who portrays Parvaiz in Aryan Khan’s directorial debut, represents every Emraan Hashmi fan ever. His dialogue, “The whole Bollywood on one side, and Emraan Hashmi on one side” resonated with the audience, who were quick to make it viral on Instagram.
For fans, it was like someone had finally voiced their most hidden thoughts.
Another clip from the film, where Parvaiz first meets Emraan and breaks into the song, Kaho Na Kaho, got the internet obsessed.
Social media pages were quick to label it the ‘best cameo’ in the series. Hashmi’s appearance was arguably one of the most talked-about elements of the show.
Through Bads of Bollywood, Aryan didn’t just tip their hat to Emraan Hashmi. He raised a toast, set off fireworks, and wrote his name in bold.
In a way, this tribute was less about nostalgia and more about justice. Because Emraan Hashmi was never Bollywood’s shame. He was its heartbeat, all along.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)