The trailer of Himesh Reshammiya’s new misspelt film Teraa Surroor is out. It is every bit as mystifying as the man. It introduces him as the hero writhing in bed with a leggy lass, with the camera’s viewfinder zooming in on his distant form.
The perception from his film outings is pretty much the same – he is putting himself out but hasn’t quite found a way to make it look winsome. The arrival of every film starring Reshammiya is a circus in which he is both the lion and the tamer. He has to jump through the ring of fire and also has to make sure it doesn’t look too easy to perform. Therefore the hijinks involved in the making of this sequel to Aap Kaa Surroor (2007). The trailer is packed with all the ingredients needed for a blockbuster in which the hero acts, sings, dances, romances and performs dangerous stunts. Reshammiya does it all, without a body double apparently, and yet, everything looks like boot camp.
Reshammiya has composed music for over 80 films ever since he made his debut with the title track for Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya (1998). Over the last few years, he has been concerned with his own image as a melody maker. He has worked in 10 films, starting with Aap Kaa Surroor, for which he received a Filmfare Best Male Debut nomination alongside Ranbir Kapoor, who won it for Saawariya (2007).
Reshammiya did, however, win the Golden Kela Awards and The Ghanta Awards, both parodies that hand out gongs to wannabes. He has won in the “Worst actor” category and the “That’s anything but sexy” category, which makes a reference to “Two hot women chasing Himesh Reshammiya.”
Had Reshammiya collected these honours sportingly, it would have upped his cool quotient and given him a makeover as a celebrity with a sense of humour. But he seems to have completely missed the joke by working even harder to dispel these myths floating about his acting chops. It began the minute he dropped the blaring music to moonlight as an actor.
The initial “Himesh wave” that swept the country after the resounding success of Tere Naam (2003), which he followed up with a dozen soundtracks year after year, began to fatigue listeners after a while. Arguably, listeners dispersed every time he grabbed the mike to sing.
The same could be true for his acting career. Every time his mug (and this time the poster has him holding a gun to his head) appears on the billboard, audiences thin out. It’s a do or die situation for all parties concerned when the film releases on March 11, a date lethally close to the Ides of March.
