Emraan Hashmi felt ‘worthless’ when he was dumped

Actor

has been quite the playboy on screen, so it came as a surprise when he doled out some break-up advice for a fan recently.

The 36-year-old actor, who visited HT City along with co-star

to meet the winners of the Stars in The City contest, was more than happy to share his experience of a heartbreak.

“I have had a break-up... let’s not take names. I was struggling at that time. It’s a chapter of my life and that chapter ironically got me into acting. I felt extremely worthless, and guys should not feel that way, but I was 18-19, and when you have your heart trampled on ... it was the most devastating experience. After a couple of relationships you become seasoned, and realise it was not meant to be. You should not shed tears. It got me into acting, I hope it does good for you."

I t was yet another fun session of HT City Stars in the City. This time around, the team of Hamari Adhuri Kahani, comprising actors Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi and Rajkummar Rao, writer and producer

and director

, shared a lot of kahanis while speaking to Sonal Kalra, Hindustan Times, National Editor, Entertainment and Lifestyle.

Mahesh Bhatt stole the show when he crooned a few lines from the title song of the film.

Excerpts from the session:

Vidya, will you produce films in the future?

No, not at all. I have got a producer at home, (referring to her husband Siddharth Roy Kapur). I tend to look at what I have to do as an actor, I don’t have an overall view of things.

Rajkummar, was it a conscious call to take up unconventional roles when you got into Bollywood?

It’s very boring to follow the herd. I want to break the stereotypes and that’s the kind of script I am hungry for. Then again, when Love Sex aur Dhokha (2010) happened, it wasn’t a conscious decision. I was a struggler looking for work and that was the only script I had. I just jumped at it. It was Dibakar Banerjee’s film and I knew everyone was going to watch it and that it would get me more work.

Emraan, when Mahesh Bhatt tells you that this film’s story is about his own parents, does that add to the pressure?

I actually said no at first. Later, during the narration, I was moved to tears, and that doesn’t happen easily. I didn’t know those events were from Bhatt sahab’s life. I knew that if we worked hard, it would be a landmark film in my career.