Emraan Hashmi spoke about his equation with Kangana Ranaut, as he reacted to her comments about the value of awards shows.

Emraan Hashmi feels same arguments over nepotism can begin to look like excuses for Kangana Ranaut. (Photo: Instagram/emraanhashmi/kanganaranaut)

Actor Emraan Hashmi said that he has a ‘cordial’ relationship with his frequent co-star Kangana Ranaut, but admitted that they haven’t met in a while. He also appeared to take a jibe at her comments about awards shows lacking credibility, even though he mostly agreed with this sentiment. Asked why she’d say something like this, Emraan quipped in an interview, “Maybe because she isn’t winning any longer.”

He appeared on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, where it was pointed out that Kangana walked away with all the awards for her performance in Gangster, but later said that awards shows are worthless. Emraan, who also starred in Gangster, replied, “Kyunki milna band hogaye uske baad? I remember winning once, but I soon understood the ‘game’ behind this. It’s essentially a barter deal; you make an appearance and dance…”

Emraan continued, “I wouldn’t want to diss awards, but if someone wants to decorate their living room by dancing, all power to them. But I can’t pat myself on the back and say that I’ve delivered a good performance, because it’s a lie. You should win if you’ve done well. What’s the point of winning if it’s going to be a barter deal?” Emraan said that he decided not to attend awards shows for this reason, and speculated that he might have won a few had he turned up.

“The value of these awards shows has been diluted over the years,” he said. Asked what his relationship with Kangana is like, Emraan said, “Fantastic, cordial, wonderful. I’m very fond of her, she’s very fond of me. Unfortunately, we haven’t met in a while. We last worked together in 2015 on a Dharma film. We haven’t met since then, but I’m very fond of her. We’ve done a lot of films together, so our tuning is special.”

Recently, Emraan said that Kangana’s repeated complaints about nepotism in the film industry are beginning to sound like an excuse. “It’s good to protest about something if you are an outsider, but if you keep saying that again and again it becomes a crutch. That becomes like a – I wouldn’t want to use such a harsh word – but an excuse, when you should be pushing ahead,” he told Janice Sequeira in an interview. In an interview with Dainik Bhaskar, he pointed out that she was given centrestage in Gangster, even though she was an outsider, while he took the antagonist role despite being from the industry.

Emraan and Kangana have worked together on films such as Gangster, Raaz, Ungli, and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. Emraan was last seen as the antagonist in the Salman Khan-starrer Tiger 3. More recently, he starred in the Disney+ Hotstar series Showtime. Kangana is preparing to release her solo directorial debut, the period drama Emergency.