Emran Anwar Hashmi was born to a Muslim father and Catholic mother. He changed his name to Farhaan Hashmi but recently reverted to his original name, with an extra a as per numerology beliefs. His nickname is Emmi. He graduated from Sydenham College. He is the nephew of Mahesh Bhatt and is a cousin of actress and director Pooja Bhatt.

Hashmi made his debut with the film Footpath. He shot to fame with Murder which was his first hit. His next few films such as Zeher, Aashiq Banaya Apne,Kalyug & Gangster have done well at the box office and the soundtracks in these films have helped create a large fan base. The playback singers for most of his film's hit songs have been Himesh Reshammiya, Kunal Ganjawala & Atif Aslam.

Emraan is also famous for his kissing scenes in most of his movies. He has been nicknamed the serial kisser. Recently he tried to shed himself from the serial kisser image with his recent film Awarapan.