‘Gangsters still romanticised’

The camaraderie between actor Emraan Hashmi and investigative journalist Hussain Zaidi was apparent in the latest edition of Time Pass, a series of webinars organised by The New Indian Express group. Titled The Mafia Story, the session, hosted by senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai, touched upon their collaborations, the underworld and much more. Hashmi reminisced about Hussain pushing him to write his autobiographical book, Kiss of Life (2016), which was about his son’s battle with cancer. Hussain said, “I realised this man had a sensitive heart and has gone through trauma.

I thought to make him tell his story…it would help many parents going through similar experiences. I was surprised by how the final chapter turned out, the one where Ayaan (Emraan’s son) participates in a race. I thought it was wonderful.” Asked about the authenticity of Emraan Hashmi’s iconic movie, Once Upon Time In Mumbaai (2010), inspired by the stories of underworld dons Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim, Hussain, the author of many bestsellers on the underworld, said, “It was a heavily romanticised version, but I told Emraan that his portrayal of a gangster is by far the best.

It is not easy for someone, who is known to be a romantic hero, to pull off this role.” Throwing light on why the seeming fascination Bollywood and the underworld have for each other, Hussain explained there are several reasons.

“Initially, Dawood and the underworld were funding Bollywood movies and that made the industry besotted with them. Whenever the stars went to Dubai for shows and events, they met Dawood at the parties. Over the years, they became an integral and inseparable part of each other.” Hashmi concluded that he “became an actor just being on the sets, doing films... That keeps me going.”