Indian actor Emraan Hashmi found it liberating to play a spy who doesn’t break out into a song and dance in his new web series ‘Bard of Blood’, out on Netflix on September 27.
Espionage films in Bollywood are notorious for having its lead spy characters sing, dance and spray bullets with equal prowess.
“As an actor, ‘Bard of Blood’ gave me more bandwidth and afforded me a larger character arc that aren’t given to us actors in two hour and forty five minute feature films. I found that exhilarating. Because let’s face it, when you suddenly have a spy lip-synching a song, it takes the seriousness away and breaks the hard-built momentum,” said Hashmi in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!.
Hashmi plays an agent gone rogue who was expelled from the force and becomes a teacher of Shakespeare in a Mumbai school.
But his seniors, who ejected him from his line of duty after a botched up mission in Balochistan, urge him to return so that he can help them rescue agents who have been kidnapped in that war-ridden zone.
“He reluctantly takes on this mission and he doesn’t know what’s in store for him. But he ends up finding answers for a lot of unanswered questions.”
Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, the series is based on the 2015 espionage novel written by Bilal Siddiqi.
“I launched Bilal’s book years ago in Mumbai and at that time there wasn’t any talk of adaptation, although it was a gripping novel that had such engaging characters and leaves us satiated.”
Hashmi reveals that the ending of ‘Bard of Blood’ has been changed from its original novel.
“There have been some tweaks, additions and cliff hanger moments to add to the entertainment quotient.”
While the series is a work of fiction, Hashmi claims that inordinate care has been taken not to hurt any particular country’s sentiment. The series is set in Balochistan in Pakistan and is about Indian RAW agents trapped in that territory, fanning fears that the series would peddle stereotypes of Pakistanis as evil in Indian films or serials.
“Remember, it’s primarily for entertainment … It’s a pure work of fiction and all the character and are mission are fictional.”
Hashmi, who had earned the dubious distinction of being the ‘serial kisser of Bollywood’ owing to his racy lip-locks in most of his films, claims he feels like a prude these days when watching sexually uninhibited performances of actors in risque and bold web content.
“I can’t push the bar that high ... ‘Bard of Blood’ is not cringeworthy, it just has a dose of violence but it won’t leave you uncomfortable in your seat,” said Hashmi, who grew up on a steady diet of Bond films.
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Don’t miss it!
‘Bard of Blood’ streams on Netflix from September 27.
