2003–2007: Breakthrough with erotic-thrillers Hashmi made his acting debut with in
Vikram Bhatt's thriller
Footpath (2003), alongside
Bipasha Basu and
Aftab Shivdasani, where he played a Raghu Shrivastav, a gangster. His performance was appreciated by critics with Gaurav Malani describing him as the "scene-stealer" and praised his mannerisms. The film was a critical and commercial failure. The following year, he made his breakthrough with
Anurag Basu's erotic thriller
Murder (2004), co-starring
Mallika Sherawat and
Ashmit Patel.
Taran Adarsh of
Bollywood Hungama wrote about his performance "Hashmi is fantastic in a role that seems tailor-made for him. Potraying an obsessive lover flourish, there's not denying that the narrative gets a major impetus thanks to Hashmi's performance".
Murder emerged as a commercial success, grossing a domestic total of , becoming the
eighth highest-grossing film of the year. He also starred in Basu's musical romance
Tumsa Nahin Dekha opposite
Dia Mirza. The film was a box-office disaster, although Hashmi's performance received mixed-to-positive reviews. A review from
BBC Online noted that he was "becoming fabulous with every film". In 2005, Hashmi appeared in four films. His first release of the year
Zeher, a mystery thriller directed by debutant
Mohit Suri and produced by
Mahesh Bhatt, was an adaptation of the 2003 American film
Out Of Time. The film was a moderate success at the box office. The songs 'Agar Tum Mil Jao' & 'Jaane Jaa Jaane Jaa' were chartbusters while other songs were also extremely popular with the song 'Woh Lahme' being a big rage among the youth. His second release of that year was the romantic-thriller
Aashiq Banaya Aapne directed by
Aditya Datt. Inspired by the 2001 American film
Tangled, it co-starred
Sonu Sood and debutant
Tanushree Dutta, and followed a love triangle between their characters. The film received positive reviews, and was a
sleeper hit. His third film was the crime-thriller
Chocolate, directed by
Vivek Agnihotri in his directorial debut. Hashmi played a supporting role in an ensemble cast of
Anil Kapoor,
Suniel Shetty,
Irrfan Khan,
Arshad Warsi,
Tanushree Dutta, and
Sushma Reddy. The film was inspired by the 1995 American film
The Usual Suspects. His final film of the year was a supporting role in
Mohit Suri's action thriller
Kalyug, alongside
Kunal Khemu,
Smilie Suri,
Amrita Singh,
Ashutosh Rana, and
Deepal Shaw. Based on the
sex industry, the film depicted the devastating effect that non-consensual
pornographic films have on the subjects. Hashmi featured as Ali Bhai, a man who runs a
sex shop. His performance, and the film, garnered positive reviews from critics, with Taran Adarsh writing: "Hashmi makes a brief, but solid, appearance and the actor is, like always, highly competent."
Kalyug emerged as a moderate commercial success in India. Hashmi's first appearance in 2006 was
Anant Mahadevan's erotic thriller
Aksar alongside
Udita Goswami and
Dino Morea. The film was a commercial success and well received from critics. His second release was Anurag Basu's romantic thriller
Gangster: A Love Story co-starring debutante
Kangana Ranaut and
Shiney Ahuja in lead roles. The film emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing over in India. It opened to positive reviews from critics upon release, with Hashmi's portrayal of Akash Kapadia, an
undercover detective, receiving particular praise.
Rediff.com's Raja Sen wrote, "Hashmi's character is an understated one, and he manages to keep it that way. There is no unnecessary bluster or melodrama, and he does a pretty believable job. There is something lazy about his acting, by which I mean he makes the job look easy." Hashmi's performance in the film earned him a nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. His next releases, the crime-thriller
The Killer (adapted from the 2004 film
Collateral) and the romance
Dil Diya Hai, both emerged as critical and commercial failures. In 2007, Hashmi appeared in three films. His first release was the comedy
Good Boy Bad Boy alongside
Tusshar Kapoor,
Isha Sharvani and
Tanushree Dutta. The film received negative reviews from critics upon release and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next played a gangster in Mohit Suri's
neo-noir action drama
Awarapan (2007) alongside
Mrinalini Sharma and
Shriya Saran. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise directed towards Hashmi's performance. Writing for the
Hindustan Times, critic
Khalid Mohamed described it as "intense and believable". Subhash K Jha wrote: "...Hashmi [is] an actor who conceals more than he reveals on screen. There is an inherent pain in his personality that this film taps better than anything he has done earlier. This film marks the emergence of a major talent." Despite positive critical reception, it emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office. However over the years,
Awarapan gained
cult status, primarily due to Hashmi's performance. His final release of the year was the romantic thriller
The Train, co-starring
Geeta Basra and debutante
Sayali Bhagat in lead roles. Narrating the story of a married couple caught in a complex extramarital love triangle, the film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office.
2008–2012: Commercial success Hashmi's only film appearance in 2008 was
Kunal Deshmukh's crime romance
Jannat. Depicting a love story set against the backdrop of
match fixing, the film also starred
Sonal Chauhan,
Javed Sheikh and
Sameer Kochhar. The film, and Hashmi's performance in the film as Arjun Dixit, a
bookmaker, received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics; Taran Adarsh commented that "[t]he actor displays the gamut of emotions with aplomb, he changes expressions like a chameleon changes colors.
Jannat is yet another turning point in his career." The film emerged as a commercial success in India, with revenues of over . and
Vidya Balan at the audio release of
The Dirty Picture in 2011 In 2009, Hashmi appeared in Suri's
supernatural horror film Raaz: The Mystery Continues, alongside Ranaut and
Adhyayan Suman. Hashmi's portrayal of a painter, and the film, received mixed-to-positive reviews;
The Times of Indias
Nikhat Kazmi wrote: "Hashmi is fast emerging as the
Colin Farrell of Indian cinema: completely mercurial, eclectic and unpredictable. As the brooding, prescient painter, who paints death on his canvas and falls in love with one of subjects, he is suitably aggrieved, desperate and afraid." Its domestic collection exceeded , emerging as a commercial success at the box-office. He then starred opposite
Soha Ali Khan in Kunal Deshmukh's
romantic drama disaster Tum Mile, which narrated a love story set against the backdrop of the
2005 Maharashtra floods. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release; however, it emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. With a domestic revenue of over ,
Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, ranking as the
seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. The film received positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hashmi's performance. Blessy Chettiar of
Daily News and Analysis described him as "top class", while
Komal Nahta remarked: "This is easily Hashmi's best performance so far. If he is cute in the romantic scenes, he is believably tough in the action and dramatic scenes." For his performance, Hashmi received his first nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. His next release that year was Suri's action thriller
Crook, based on the
violence against Indians in Australia controversy. However, the film was panned by critics and emerged as a commercial disaster at the box-office. Hashmi began 2011 with
Madhur Bhandarkar's
romantic comedy Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji alongside Devgn,
Omi Vaidya,
Shazahn Padamsee,
Tisca Chopra and
Shruti Hassan. The film, and Hashmi's performance, received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next featured in Suri's psychological action thriller
Murder 2, alongside
Jacqueline Fernandez. The film, and Hashmi's performance, received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express wrote: "Hashmi gets to do what he does best, glowering at the men, bedding the ladies, and towards the end, going head to head with the bad guy [...] he goes through the film with his usual smart one-liners containing equal amounts of bluster and fluster."
Murder 2 emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, with a domestic revenue of over . His final film appearance that year was Luthria's biographical musical drama
The Dirty Picture, featuring
Vidya Balan as the controversial Indian actress
Silk Smitha, alongside
Naseeruddin Shah and
Tusshar Kapoor. He portrayed Abraham, the narrator, who proclaims himself to be the protagonist's biggest enemy. The film opened to widespread critical acclaim, with praise for Hashmi's performance;
CNN-IBN's
Rajeev Masand wrote: "Hashmi is highly restrained as Abraham, a director who believes in film as art, and who abhors the idea of inserting steamy numbers in his movie to lure in the crowds." However, several critics were sceptical about his role in the film; It emerged as a major commercial success with a worldwide revenue of over .
Murder 2 and
The Dirty Picture ranked as the
ninth and seventh highest-grossing Hindi films of the year. '' in 2012 In 2012, Hashmi appeared in Deshmukh's crime thriller
Jannat 2 alongside Hooda and
Esha Gupta. It was initially titled
Informer, but was later changed to the current title, making it a follow-up film to
Jannat (2008). The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a commercial success at the box-office. He next starred alongside
Abhay Deol,
Prosenjit Chatterjee and
Kalki Koechlin in
Dibakar Banerjee's political thriller
Shanghai, an adaptation of writer
Vassilis Vassilikos's novel
Z and the 1969
French film of the same name. Set in a fictional town called Bharat Nagar, it traced corruption in India. The film opened to critical acclaim upon release, and Hashmi received widespread praise for his portrayal of Joginder Parmar, a
videographer who sometimes shoots porn films. Madhureeta Mukherjee of
The Times of India wrote that Hashmi "looks the part and pulls off an act he should be proud of." Raja Sen described it as one of his best performances and wrote: "Hashmi delivers a knockout punch as he masters a complicated role" and called it as "the year's finest, bravest and most consistent performance." Hashmi's next appearance that year was for Vikram Bhatt's supernatural horror film
Raaz 3: The Third Dimension, collaborating again with Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta. The third film in the
Raaz film series, it emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, and opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics; however, Hashmi's performance received mixed reviews. critic Kunal Guha commented: "[Hashmi] takes his role as seriously as he could but his efforts couldn't exorcise the devilishly terrible plot from spelling doom for this film." Lisa Tsering of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "The swarthy Hashmi [...] does a forgettable job. His final film of the year was Shamin Desai's delayed thriller
Rush, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office.
2013–present: Diversification and setbacks '' in 2013 In 2013, Hashmi's first film appearance was in
Ekta Kapoor and
Vishal Bhardwaj's supernatural thriller
Ek Thi Daayan, alongside
Konkona Sen Sharma,
Huma Qureshi and Koechlin in lead roles. The film, and Hashmi's performance, opened to positive reviews from critics upon release. Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV mentioned that Hashmi "gives the character of the haunted magician just that – a haunted feel that is just apt", whilst Shubhra Gupta called his performance "consistent", adding that he "is a performer who keeps getting better". Hashmi's second appearance that year was for
Raj Kumar Gupta's comedy thriller
Ghanchakkar opposite Balan. The film, and Hashmi's performance, opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release. Sneha May Francis of
Emirates 24/7 wrote that "Hashmi spins one of his acting career's most understated, yet imposing performances. He crafts [his character's] predicaments – his anger, frustration and suspicions – with effortless charm." Rajeev Masand was more critical of his performance, reflecting that he "struggles to shine under the limited scope of his role." On the commercial front,
Ek Thi Daayan emerged as a below-average grosser, while
Ghanchakkar emerged as a commercial disaster. In 2014, Hashmi starred in Deshmukh's crime thriller
Raja Natwarlal and
Rensil D'Silva's crime drama thriller
Ungli, both of which emerged as critical and commercial failures at the box-office, with the latter being Hashmi's fifth consecutive commercial failure. He then played the leading role in
Academy Award-winning director
Danis Tanović's drama
Tigers, which premiered at
2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was later released digitally on the on-demand platform
ZEE5 in November 2018. In 2015, Hashmi appeared in two films, the first being the science fiction action film
Mr. X alongside
Amyra Dastur, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office. His second film that year was the long-awaited musical romantic drama
Hamari Adhuri Kahani, opposite Balan for the third time, alongside
Rajkummar Rao. The film was based on the love story of Bhatt's parents,
Nanabhai Bhatt, Shirin Mohammad Ali and his stepmother Hemlata Bhatt. It opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office. The same year, he appeared alongside Gupta in the music video of the romantic song "Main Rahoon Ya Naa Rahoon" composed by
Armaan Malik and
Amaal Malik, and presented by
T-Series. The following year, he starred in the biographical drama
Azhar (2016), based on the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain
Mohammad Azharuddin. The film opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next appeared in Vikram Bhatt's
Raaz: Reboot (2016), the fourth film in the
Raaz film series. It emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office. Hashmi's run of commercial failures continued in 2017 with Luthria's action adventure
Baadshaho co-starring alongside Devgan,
Ileana D'Cruz, Gupta and
Vidyut Jammwal, another critical and commercial disaster. The same year, he also began shooting for
Captain Nawab, but the film was later shelved. '' in 2019 Hashmi made his
OTT debut with the spy thriller web series
Bard of Blood, which was based on the
novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqui. Produced by
Shah Rukh Khan and released on
Netflix, it opened to mixed reviews from critics. In 2019, he starred in the crime drama
Why Cheat India and the mystery thriller
The Body, the latter co-starring
Rishi Kapoor in his final film appearance, with both films again emerging as critical and commercial disasters. The same was the fate of his 2021 releases – the crime action film
Mumbai Saga, the mystery thriller
Chehre (co-starring
Amitabh Bachchan) and the supernatural horror film
Dybbuk.'''' The same year, Hashmi also featured in the music video of the romantic song "Lut Gaye", presented by
T-Series, directed by
Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, and sung by
Jubin Nautiyal. In 2022, Hashmi again featured in the music video "Ishq Nahi Karte" sung by
B Praak and
Jaani. After no film releases in 2022, he returned to screen in 2023 with the action comedy-drama
Selfiee, co-starring
Akshay Kumar. A remake of the 2019 Malayalam-language film
Driving Licence, the film emerged as a critical and commercial disaster. Hashmi had a career resurgence when he starred as Aatish Rehman, the antagonist in
Maneesh Sharma's action thriller
Tiger 3, co-starring
Salman Khan and
Katrina Kaif. The film is a part of the
YRF Spy Universe. The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hashmi's performance. It emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing worldwide, ranking as the
sixth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, the
ninth highest-grossing Indian film of the year and the
26th highest-grossing Indian film of all time. His performance in the film earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was last seen in Ground Zero, the story of BSF officer Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey's operation against terrorist mastermind Ghazi Baba. Hashmi made his debut in
Telugu cinema with
Sujeeth's action thriller
They Call Him OG, co-starring
Pawan Kalyan and
Priyanka Arul Mohan. Hashmi was seen recently in Neeraj Pandey starrer Netflix series, Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web opposite Sharad Kelkar and Zoya Afroz. == Personal life ==