Gangs Of Wasseypur to Ek Thi Dayaan, Dedh Ishqiya to Leila, Jolly LLB 2 to Maharani. Huma Qureshi, who completes a decade in the industry, has made a space for herself, one project at a time. The actor has had an interesting 2021 as she delivered three back to back hits including her Hollywood debut with Army of the Dead, Hindi film BellBottom as well as the web series Maharani for which she also won a lot of appreciation.
“It has been a gratifying year me and it is really special. I almost feel rejuvenated,” claims Qureshi. “I’ve been working hard and to be honest I’ve not really had time to sit back and assess and think about everything. I have had my hands full with a work, which is really important as we are living in uncertain times so we need to keep working and keep doing whatever we can do and lift ourselves up and others also.”
The actor is gearing up for the release of her upcoming web-series Mithya, an original adaption of the 2019 British series, Cheat. The show, which will premiere on ZEE5 on February 11, navigates the conflicted relationship between a professor and a teacher. “I was very intrigued to do a thriller, and a well-made thriller. I enjoy this genre a lot and Goldie Behl called and told me about the show and said it’s a fantastic adaptation, and he thought that I’ll be good for the part. I read the script and really loved it. I thought this was this was fun as I was playing a Hindi professor,” says the actor who also saw the first and the last episode of the original series just to get a reference of the story.
The 35-year-old actor has her hands full as she will also be seen in Double XL with Sonakshi Sinha, a film which also marks her debut as a producer. She also has Monica, O My Darling, a Netflix original film and Valimai with Tamil superstar Ajith Kumar in the pipeline. Qureshi has also started shooting for the second season of Maharani.
The versatile actor is rapidly carving out a niche for herself in an industry with a variety of roles. Qureshi says that her funda of choosing a script is very simple, “As an actor, I’m a gypsy, I go wherever good stories are. Whether it comes from the West or regional cinema or whether it is a feature film or an OTT project, I like to dabble in different genres. It makes me feel very fulfilled and happy. I think it’s a good time and I’m enjoying myself doing what I’m doing. I’m having fun, I’m making interesting choices and working with amazing people who I want to work with. My focus has always been to reinvent myself with every project. I am excited with this new phase of my life.”
Question her about terming this as a new phase of her career as she has been making some interesting choices since her debut and she says, “I think difference is in my mindset. When I started out, I was making different choices, but it wasn’t a conscious decision,” she says, adding that in the past couple of years she has become a lot more aware. “The awareness is what is driving me right now. I feel like I’m a new person in my life. So after I did Maharani, I got multiple offers to play a Bihari woman but I could immediately say no as I don’t want to repeat myself. My process has been to not to stop expressing myself in person or through my work.”
