Nineteen years have passed since Awarapan released. Who would have thought that Emraan Hashmi, with his long hair and chiselled muscles, could charm millennials and Gen Z together with an OG role in an era of omnipresent Instagram, intrusive micro-dramas, and overpowering OTT space? He did, and we are now living in Emraan Hashmi’s world.
Shivam Pandit, the rage, the action, the evergreen songs and Emraan Hashmi – there’s not much difference in the plots of Awarapan and Awarapan 2. If anything makes a difference, that’s time. And in a big way.
Naive millennials, who were in school and colleges back then, do know how Emraan Hashmi and his films shaped their collective memory in an era sans AI and OTT space.
But what about Gen Z?
They probably have watched him in Aryan Khan’s big Netflix directorial debut The Ba***ds of Bollywood, or in the recent films.
They might have heard many stories about him being a ‘kissing’ king on screen.
But before Gen Z could explore him more, the actor changed his genre.
Not only Emraan Hashmi, leading actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh – all have changed their genres over the years to keep themselves relevant across generations.
But Hashmi has achieved the feat that not all of them have pulled off so far successfully.
Emraan Hashmi revived his Shivam Pandit aura in 2026 with the same conviction that he did for millennials in 2007.
Moreover, he reached out to the new-age Gen Z with his millennial charm and a massy avatar and pulled them to the theatres with his screen persona.
Critics across the board have unanimously slammed Awarapan 2. But making a film work solely based on the nostalgia factor requires stardom and a solid conviction.
The OG Bhatt and Emraan Hashmi collaboration worked. In a post-Dhurandhar-fied era, Emraan Hashmi proved his star power with a millennial character, though he had already made him available on the OTT platforms.
Awarapan 2 vs Awarapan Box Office
Awarapan 2 has already emerged as the third-highest grossing weekend opener after Dhurandhar 2 and Border 2 this year.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared a detailed breakup of its opening weekend performance.
“BLOCKBUSTER WEEKEND… #Awarapan2 smashes the ball out of the stadium in its opening weekend… Look at its day-wise performance – an eye-opener for those who doubted its potential.
“The best part is that #Awarapan2 has performed exceptionally well at Tier 2 and Tier 3 centres, especially at non-national chains and single screens… In the recent past, #BhoothBangla, #WTTJ, and #Dhamaal4 had brought respite to exhibitors there… Now, Awarapan2 has brought back the House Full boards.
“Awarapan2 has emerged as the THIRD HIGHEST opening weekend grosser of 2026 [Hindi films], after Dhurandhar2 and Border2,” he wrote.
Awarapan debuted on June 29, 2007. It clashed with Apne and Aap Kaa Surroor.
Awarapan was allocated the fewest screens, with only 375 compared to 625 for Apne and 550 for Aap Kaa Surroor.
The film opened to a modest collection of 79 lakh net. With mixed and decent reviews from the critics, the film led to a total collection of just 7.75 crore net in India, far below its production budget of 18 crore.
However, the film achieved a cult status in the collective memory as it has been successfully run on television and home video, cementing its position as a fan favourite and etching its evergreen songs in the repertoire of Hindi cinema.
Awarapan And The Deol Connection
19 years ago, Awarapan clashed with Apne, led by the Deols (Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol). Fate was in favour of the Deols and Apne worked at the box office.
Awarapan 2 released with Sunny Deol’s Batwara 1947. This time, Sunny Deol’s film registered one of its lowest openings.
On day 4, Batwara 1947 collected a net of ₹2.00 crore across 6,771 shows. This brings total India gross collections to ₹33.95 crore and total India net collections to ₹28.50 crore so far.
Awarapan has already minted Rs 91 crore (net) in India in four days.
Awarapan 2 and Saiyaara
Last year, Aditya Chopra’s masterstroke and business acumen worked when he released Saiyaara with two debutants (Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda) without exposing them to the media. Only director Mohit Suri spoke to the media.
Driven by the marketing strategy, Gen Z reels showing youngsters shedding tears flooded Instagram. Gen Z said, ‘it’s their story.’
‘Have you people seen Tere Naam?’ was Millennials’ comeback.
Awarapan 2, precisely, worked on that premise. It bridged the gap between Gen Z and millennials.
Millennials bring back their nostalgia, Gen Z has reinvented Emraan Hashmi in a new way.
Millennials made Emraan Hashmi a star, Gen Z made him a box office King.
How Emraan Hashmi Changed Career Path, But Retained His Stardom
Emraan Hashmi has tried different genres to prove his acting calibre in the last couple of years, to break his Kissing-star image. He had featured in the OTT shows like Bard of Blood, Showtime, The Ba***ds of Bollywood.
The language and mediums of story-telling have undergone a massive change in the post-pandemic era.
Emraan featured in films like Chehre, Selfie (with Akshay Kumar). He tried the genres of nation-building films like Ae Watan
Mere Watan, Ground Zero, Haq. He had also played an antagonist in Salman Khan’s Tiger franchise.
But none of the films (be it solo or ensemble) did justice to his stardom, range and potential.
So, this time Hashmi is back in the game with his OG character, showing the world that his awarapan can transcend barriers of generations.
Probably, Aryan Khan could take a credit a bit when he wrote the line for The Ba***ds of Bollywood, ‘Akha Bollywood ek taraf, Emraan Hashmi ek taraf.”
Conclusion
Before Emraan Hashmi took over your Instagram feed, it was Ravi Kishan who pulled the Gen Z votes on the platform. Following Kishan’s mantra of naam ya daam, Emraan Hashmi relied on his name and star power, and money is following him, my brother (IYKYK).
In an ever-changing landscape of cinema and its unpredictable business, Emraan Hashmi shows that stardom needs to be nurtured like your skills. And fandom is here to stay if he revives him from time to time.
After all, he has a ‘purana rishta’ with fans even before he did Awarapan.
