Happy Birthday Emraan Hashmi!

March 24th marks the birthday of one of the most talented actors currently in the Bollywood industry. He's given a slew of hits since his entry into the industry over a decade ago and has created his own niche, but has yet to receive a Filmfare Award despite numerous nominations. Yes! We're talking about one of the most underrated actors of the industry, Emraan Hashmi.

Born in 1979 to parents Anwar and Mahera Hashmi in Mumbai, Hashmi hails from a particularly well connected family in Bollywood; producers Mahesh and Mukhesh Bhatt are his uncles and his cousins include actress Alia Bhatt, and directors Pooja Bhatt and Mohit Suri. Having been born into such a filmy family, it was only a matter of time before he joined the industry too. However, his first foray into acting was lackluster with his debut film Footpath (2003) failing to impress both critically and commercially.

In 2004, he starred in one of his uncles' film, Murder, which made him a household name and there has been no looking back since for the actor. Despite hitting a bit of a slump in the following years, Hashmi has provided numerous hits and hours of entertainment to his fans in the form of box office successes such as Gangster (2006), Jannat (2008) and Raaz - The Mystery Continues (2009). It was during these years that he came to be known as Bollywood's "Serial Kisser", courtesy of his numerous sensual scenes in various movies.

Since then, however, Hashmi has managed to shed his "Serial Kisser" image and evolved into more character driven roles. His multi-faceted negative role in Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010) garnered him a lot of critical acclaim on top of being a box office hit. He continued his success streak with movies such as Murder 2 (2011), The Dirty Picture (2011) and Jannat 2 (2012). The political thriller Shanghai (2012) was another feather in his cap with Hashmi receiving positive reviews for his performance from both audiences and critics alike. Unfortunately, 2013 was a bit of a downer for the actor with both his films, Ek Thi Dayaan and Ghanchakkar, under-performing at the box office. Later this year, he will be seen in Karan Johar's Ungli, Danis Tanovic's Indo-International film White Lies, and Kunal Deshmukh's Shaatir. Some of his other movies in the pipeline include Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor's joint venture Badtameez Dil opposite Kareena Kapoor and Mohit Suri's Hamari Adhuri Kahani opposite Vidya Balan.

In his personal life, Hashmi holds the honor of being one of the few actors who has never been linked with any of his female co-stars, or anyone else either! He is happily married to his long-term girlfriend Parveen Shahani since 2006 and the couple have a four year old son named Ayan, who was unfortunately diagnosed with stage two kidney cancer earlier this year.

Fortunately, Ayan has now been given a clean bill of health after a successful tumor excision and chemotherapy at a children's hospital in Toronto.

To celebrate this special occasion, here is a playlist of some of the popular songs from Hashmi's movies:

Author: Gunia M.

Editor/s: Ritchelle C. and Jenifer Y.

Graphics: Virina R.