'Taskaree' star Emraan Hashmi on early film choices, public image and finding clarity in his career: 'I don’t think I ever fit the bill of a conventional hero'

Emraan Hashmi is currently basking in the rave reviews that the Neeraj Panday series, 'Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web' has been fetching. In a recent interview, Hashmi opened up on seeing renewed attention for his career choices as audiences respond to a phase that feels lighter, confident, and deliberately unconventional.

Long known for playing morally complex characters, Hashmi says he never aimed to be a traditional hero. Instead, he built his career around roles that felt instinctive to him, even when they shaped a fixed public image early on.

Emraan Hashmi on career choices over image

In an interview with Moneycontrol, Hashmi reflected on how his early work shaped how people saw him. “I don’t think I ever fit the bill of a conventional hero,” he said. While most of his films were commercial, he noted that “the characters have always been a little off the beaten path.

Gray shades, very unconventional arcs.”Hashmi said that once an image forms at the start of a career, it tends to stay. “Aur jab aapko career ke shuruat mein hi aisi movies mil jaati hai toh people start envisioning you as that, as being a strength” (And when you get such films right at the start of your career, people begin to see you as that, and consider it your strength), he told the outlet. He added that this perception did not bother him, because he never saw himself playing standard heroic roles.

“I don’t think I would have gone down the path of doing the atypical hero roles. I don’t think I would be suited to it because my mind is not that way. I always think a little odd and off.”Hashmi also addressed the gap between audience support and critical recognition. “People forget also that audiences have given me a lot of love,” Hashmi said. “Initially, yes, I didn’t get critical acclaim because of the nature of the films.

But the fans have been very supportive.”

Emraan Hashmi on why this phase stands out

Hashmi believes his current choices reflect clarity rather than reinvention. He stressed that the success of any project depends on the full cast and the story. “For me, it’s always the script and the overall film or show is paramount,” he said. “Although it seems like a selfless move, it’s a selfish move because ultimately it’s very important for everyone’s performance to work for me to work.”Hashmi also pushed back against the idea that darker storytelling is always better. “Sometimes making something raw, something very raw, really gritty. You lose the entertainment quotient. It has to be a little poppy,” he said.Looking back, Hashmi acknowledged that many viewers still associate him with ‘Murder’, ‘Jannat’, and ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai’. “Those audiences have never seen me in ‘Shanghai’ or as a Tiger,” he said.

Today, he sees his body of work as “a complete mixed bag,” driven by range, not image correction. ‘Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web’ Season 1 started streaming on Netflix on January 14, 2026. The seven-episode crime thriller is created by Neeraj Pandey and tells a complete, self-contained story within its first season. Hashmi also made a brief cameo in ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, using self-aware humor to riff on his public image and show his comfort with experimentation.