EXCLUSIVE: The Family Man 2 fame Sharib Hashmi on rejections, the lull in career: People thought I disappeared

Sharib Hashmi today is a household name. After the stupendous success of The Family Man 2, it’s been raining love on JK, aka Sharib, who is equally surprised with the response. “The response is beyond my expectations. I can’t believe that this has gotten such a response,” Sharib laughed off as we discussed if OTT has finally helped actors like him find their niche and space. He also opened up on how the meme-fest although endearing was not something they considered while writing the script for The Family Man 2. “We worked on the show with utter sincerity. In fact, we had shot half of Season 2 even before Season 1 was released. We did not write dialogues thinking it will become memes but it just related to people so much,” Sharib Hashmi added.

There is no denying that Manoj Bajpayee and Sharib Hashmi’s camaraderie onscreen was the perfect example of bromance in cinema. When asked about working with Manoj Bajpayee, Sharib called him his friend and shared, “It was great offscreen with Manoj SIr. We clicked on day 1 of the first season. I will give credit to Manoj sir for making me feel comfortable. Between camera and action, I could see Manoj Sir become Srikant in a fraction of seconds. Our bond grew with time. I love and respect him a lot, I look up to him. He is my friend philosopher, guide. I have learned so much from him. I feel blessed to have worked with a legend like Manoj Sir.”

He also mentioned that while Samantha had little scenes with him, the actor found her very ‘chilled out’ “Samantha did not walk around with an air of being a superstar or belonging to a big family. She was chilled out. I did not have too many scenes with her, but I had a great time shooting with her whatever I had,” Sharib Hashmi recalled.

 

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In the last few years, OTT has helped identify talents like never before. Sharib agreed that OTT has helped revive his career but believes the star system will continue to remain. “I feel my career was totally revived, thanks to OTT because post-Filmistaan did not really go the way I wanted it to. I did sign very interesting projects and big projects but some got shelved, some got stuck in middle, some never found release. There was a lull in my career. Mostly only independent films were released which did not get promotion or awareness and people felt I disappeared,” Sharib recounted.

He added that he was asked if he is a ‘one film wonder’ after Filmistaan. “When I started the promotion of Family Man 1, people told me I was a one-film wonder and it felt a little disappointing. Of course, I got some good opportunities in the beginning, I don’t think about what I did not get but instead weigh on what I got. I thank god for that.” However, he added that he believes that the star system is likely to continue longer than we think.

He also recalled how people around him changed after he experienced a lull in his career. “There have many instances like that (people behaved nastily) but with the help of my friends and family, I kept myself together. Some people who would be so warm during the release of Filmistaan suddenly would ignore you at events. There was no warm at all. I have faced things like the same people who once told me ‘I will be the next big thing after Filmistaan,’ when I met them say two years later, did not even acknowledge my greetings. I have seen it all. I tried to give benefit of the doubt to such situations.”

Sharib, however, says that though it is difficult he has become thick-skinned now. “We go through rejections on daily basis, we have so much No in life, and that makes us thick-skinned, actually. But it is difficult to keep a positive approach and be smiling, it needs a lot of courage,” Sharib concluded.

Also Read: The Family Man: All you need to know about Srikant Tiwari’s confidante JK Talpade aka Sharib Hashmi

Bhavna Agarwal

Assistant Editor at Bollywood Bubble. An ambivert who is currently high on K-dramas and K-Pop. A forever Bollywood fan, who continues to gush over solid stories and characters. Hit me up for a fine conversation over chai.

You can also reach me on – https://twitter.com/filmybugB