Emraan was annoyed with the serial kisser tag

Emraan Hashmi has been in the industry for over two decades but the actor is largely known for his

kissing image

on screen. While there's a large section of the audience who finds those films and songs as cult now, Emraan admits that the

serial kisser

tag was a bit annoying for him back then. In the last few years, the actor's endeavour has been to break out of that and prove his potential as an actor. He will be seen next in 'Ground Zero'.
Talking about it, Emraan said on Ranveer Allahbadia's podcast, "There was a time when I got a little bit annoyed when I wanted people to take me slightly seriously. See, a large part of my career 2003 to 2012, is chhavi ko is tarah nichoda gaya tha ki wo ek label ban gaya tha, wo marketing main istemaal kiya jata tha. Har film main bina wajah cheezein daali jati thi. Aur media mein bhi jab aata tha ek tag line, toh mere naam se pehle wo tag aata tha – Serial Kisser (This image was utilised in such a manner that it became a label. It was also used as marketing tool. Things were added to films without rhyme or reason. And in media, my name would come with the tag)”.
The actor further added, "And this is my own gift to myself. So, I am not blaming anyone else.But what happens – just when you cross that phase where those films go on and everything happens. Then you want to go to your next phase. You want to be taken seriously as an actor. You try to do those films where your range is visible to people. But after seeing that, they again come back to the same tag (serial kisser) and say, there was no such scene in this.”
He concluded saying, “I am presenting something new. I am an actor. It is my job to play different characters. Why do you want to see the same again? Because of this, I used to get a little annoyed. But otherwise, I am chill about it. I do not have many issues with it.”