“Whoever asks for unreasonable pay cheque is short minded” – Emraan Hashmi

August 12, 2010 - 3:27 PM IST

When Jannat succeeded at the box office, rumours were ripe that Emraan Hashmi had escalated his price to Rs. 5 crores. However, last two years saw correction taking place in the industry and star prices falling down. Now once again, the market is looking up and Emraan Hashmi has seen an even bigger grosser in the form of Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. His biggest money spinner till date, the film has brought Emraan into limelight once again and given him a platform where he can call the shots and demand a price. So is Emraan looking at some good hike all over again for his forthcoming films?

"As they say, never ask a man's salary so I don't want to comment on a figure", he says with that mischievous grin of his, "Ho aisa raha hai ki aaj kal actors' kuch bhi amount quote kar rahe hain. Asliyat industry ko pata hai. It has gone through bleeding time and in such a case, for my own survival and a selfish need to stay on, I will only quote the kind of amount which I rightly deserve and also doesn't burden the producer. I don't see how I can bring a pay cheque back home and stay on to be happy about it even as the film is facing trouble."

“Whoever asks for unreasonable pay cheque is short minded” – Emraan Hashmi

Fortunately for Emraan, he hasn't encountered such a situation where his career has faced many roadblocks. In the years gone by, there hasn't been a single year when a film of his hasn't received commercial or critical acclaim. 2004 (Murder), 2005 (Zeher, Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Kalyug), 2006 (Aksar, Gangster), 2007 (Awarapan), 2008 (Jannat), 2009 (Raaz - The Mystery Continues) and now Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai - the going has been good so far with each of the years bringing something on the table for Emraan.

That makes one wonder why is he is still operating in a controlled price zone. Especially so when some of his colleagues, whether seniors or juniors, haven't quite followed that. Even though their films are failing to even get a kick start, their bank balance is painting a pretty picture.

"I guess whoever does that is really very short minded. It is stupid to think that chalo ek fat cheque mil gaya toh film bhaad mein jaaye. As an actor, you have to ensure that your film does well for your very own need. Give me a good film any day, other things will follow", concludes Emraan.

Well, with the fact that he is still going slow and steady instead of signing up multiple films to bag huge signing amounts for him, one can yet again re-emphasize the fact that Emraan certainly knows where his career is headed and how he has to pave his way through any distractions or obstacles whatsoever.