2013–2025: Career fluctuations
In 2013, Hashmi's first film appearance was in debutant Kannan Iyer's supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan, alongside Konkona Sen Sharma, Huma Qureshi and Koechlin in lead roles; it was produced by Kapoor and composer Vishal Bhardwaj, who also co-wrote the script. The film, and Hashmi's performance, opened to positive reviews from critics upon release. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV mentioned that Hashmi "gives the character of the haunted magician just that – a haunted feel that is just apt", whilst Shubhra Gupta called his performance "consistent", adding that he "is a performer who keeps getting better". His second appearance that year was for Raj Kumar Gupta's comedy thriller Ghanchakkar opposite Balan, his first collaboration with Balan's husband, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, and UTV Motion Pictures chieftain Ronnie Screwvala. The film, and Hashmi's performance, opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release. Sneha May Francis of Emirates 24/7 wrote that "Hashmi spins one of his acting career's most understated, yet imposing performances. He crafts [his character's] predicaments – his anger, frustration and suspicions – with effortless charm." Rajeev Masand was more critical of his performance, reflecting that he "struggles to shine under the limited scope of his role." On the commercial front, Ek Thi Daayan emerged as a below-average grosser, while Ghanchakkar emerged as a commercial disaster.
In 2014, Hashmi starred in Deshmukh's crime thriller Raja Natwarlal (produced by Kapur for UTV following Screwvala's exit) and Rensil D'Silva's crime drama thriller Ungli (his third collaboration each with Ranaut and Hooda, and the trio's first with Dharma Productions frontman Karan Johar), both of which emerged as critical and commercial failures at the box-office, with the latter being Hashmi's fifth consecutive commercial failure. He then played the leading role in Academy Award-winning director Danis Tanović's drama Tigers, produced by Anurag Kashyap, which premiered at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and was later released digitally on the on-demand platform ZEE5 in November 2018.
In 2015, Hashmi appeared in two films, the first being the science fiction action film Mr. X from Vikram Bhatt alongside Amyra Dastur, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office. His second film that year was the long-awaited musical romantic drama Hamari Adhuri Kahani, opposite Balan for the third time, alongside Rajkummar Rao. Directed by Suri in their fifth collaboration, the film was based on the love story of Mahesh Bhatt's parents, Nanabhai Bhatt, Shirin Mohammad Ali and his stepmother Hemlata Bhatt. It opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, but emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office. The same year, he appeared alongside Gupta in the music video of the romantic song "Main Rahoon Ya Naa Rahoon" composed by Armaan Malik and Amaal Malik, and presented by T-Series.
The following year, he starred in the biographical drama Azhar (2016), based on the life of Indian cricketer and former national team captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The film opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box-office. He next appeared in Vikram Bhatt's Raaz: Reboot (2016), the fourth film in the Raaz film series. It emerged as a critical and commercial disaster at the box-office.
Hashmi's run of commercial failures continued in 2017 with Luthria's action adventure Baadshaho co-starring alongside Devgn, Ileana D'Cruz, Gupta and Vidyut Jammwal, another critical and commercial disaster. The same year, he also began shooting for Captain Nawab, but the film was later shelved.
Hashmi made his OTT debut with the spy thriller web series Bard of Blood opposite Sobhita Dhulipala, Jaideep Ahlawat and Vineet Kumar Singh, which was based on the novel of the same name by Bilal Siddiqui. Produced by Shah Rukh Khan and released on Netflix, it opened to mixed reviews from critics, though his performance as excommunicado agent Kabir "Adonis" Anand was praised.
In 2019, he starred in the crime drama Why Cheat India, which marked his production company's debut, and the mystery thriller The Body, the latter co-starring Rishi Kapoor in his final film appearance, with both films again emerging as critical and commercial disasters. The same was the fate of his 2021 releases – the crime action film Mumbai Saga, the mystery thriller Chehre (co-starring Amitabh Bachchan) and the supernatural horror film Dybbuk. The same year, Hashmi also featured in the music video of the romantic song "Lut Gaye", presented by T-Series, directed by Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, and sung by Jubin Nautiyal.
In 2022, Hashmi featured in the music video "Ishq Nahi Karte" sung by B Praak and Jaani. After no film releases in 2022, he returned to screen in 2023 with the action comedy-drama Selfiee, co-starring Akshay Kumar, in his second collaboration with Johar. A remake of the 2019 Malayalam-language film Driving Licence, the film emerged as a critical and commercial disaster.
Hashmi returned to mainstream cinema when he starred as Aatish Rehman, a rogue Pakistani ISI agent, in Maneesh Sharma's action thriller Tiger 3, co-starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. The film is a part of the YRF Spy Universe. The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Hashmi's performance. It emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office, grossing ₹466.63 crore (US$48 million) worldwide, ranking as the sixth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, the ninth highest-grossing Indian film of the year and the 26th highest-grossing Indian film of all time. His performance in the film earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. The following year, he headlined the television series Showtime (2024) produced by Johar under his company's digital arm Dharmatic Entertainment. Co-starring Naseeruddin Shah and Mahima Makwana, it premiered on the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. A year later, he appeared in the lukewarmly received Ground Zero (2025), portraying BSF officer Narendra Nath Dhar Dubey; the film, based on true events, chronicles Dubey's operation against terrorist mastermind Ghazi Baba, and marked Hashmi's first collaboration with Excel Entertainment founders Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar.
Hashmi made his debut in Telugu cinema with Sujeeth's action thriller They Call Him OG, co-starring Pawan Kalyan and Priyanka Arul Mohan. He was seen recently in Neeraj Pandey starrer Netflix series, Taskaree: The Smuggler's Web opposite Sharad Kelkar and Zoya Afroz.
