The fate of an actor is usually defined by the way he is tagged. Some actors are pegged as action stars, some as romantic heroes, some as comedy kings; but the strangest and most unique title of Kissing Star goes to none other than Emraan Hashmi!

Born on 24 March 1979, this thirty four year old actor has come a long way to shed this very image. Having begun his film career with mostly bold, risque, borderline erotic films, Emraan today has grown exponentially as an actor.

Emraan, of course, has a filmy family backing him. He is the nephew of explosive filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt, cousin of Pooja, Alia and Rahul Bhatt, and his first cousin is director Mohit Suri.

Emraan made his debut in the critically acclaimed Footpath, and soon followed it up with his dynamic act in the sensual, erotic film Murder (directed by the prolific Anurag Basu and produced by Emraan’s uncle Mukesh Bhatt). Prior to acting, Emraan assisted Vikram Bhatt on Raaz.

Though Emraan made an explosive debut, becoming the overnight sensation and talk of the town after Murder, it took him a while to find his groove in Bollywood. Being slotted as an actor who is known more for his on-screen kisses than for his acting, though powerful, could not have taken him too far.

Fortunately, in the mid-2000’s, these things changed. Emraan played diverse roles in films like Zeher, Kalyug, Chocolate and others, seeing varied Box Office results from all. His breakthrough performance came in 2006, when he played a cop in the film Gangster. The film was an enormous success, and marked the debut of current Bollywood favourite, courtesy Queen, Kangana Ranaut.

Again, post Gangster, Emraan’s career graph dipped a little, with his films not finding too much favour at the Box Office. Fortunes favoured him once again when Raaz 2, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (for which he earned a Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji and Murder 2 clicked.

His second innings began with the films The Dirty Picture and Shanghai, both of which cemented his status as an actor to watch out for. His performances in both films won him many accolades, and he tasted Box Office success too. His most recent hits include Ek Thi Daayan and Ghanchakkar.

Fans can watch out for Emraan’s superlative performances in forthcoming films like Ungli, White Lies, Shaatir, Badtameez Dil and Mr. X.