Huma makes a splash again
As she enjoys the success for her performance in Maharani, the actress takes out time to share her thoughts on commonalities and dissimilarities in her life and character in the series
Huma Qureshi made her Bollywood debut with a supporting role in the twopart 2012 crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur. Her performance in the film earned her several nominations and awards. From then there was no looking back.
Huma is currently basking in the success of her latest series, Maharani. Featured as one among IMDB’s 10 most popular titles of 2021, the political drama is set in Bihar and chronicles the journey of a simple housewife ‘Rani Bharti’, who is made the chief minister of the state. The journey leads Rani to not only deal with shrewd politicians but also fight patriarchy.
The actress has been receiving accolades for her outstanding performance from industry folks, critics and the audience alike. Excerpts from an interview: Q How do you look back at your career and what are the interesting roles we are going to see you in the future. I look back at my career as a dream coming true, slowly. I dreamt to be an actress and I didn’t know how it was going to come true but I kept dreaming, and God was kind enough to make it happen.
As for what’s ahead, I’m never satisfied, and keep doing new things. I want to explore myself as an artist, try new characters and I want to be remembered as an actress whose work is always remembered. Q
How do you celebrate success?
I believe beyond success or failure, the only constant is oneself. Today, I am still the very person I was when I was not successful — the same girl who came from Delhi.
I realise that all this success is not because of me but because of a variety of other reasons, including the team, the right director, the right showrunner, the right script, and a lot of people’s energy, time and efforts towards making this success a reality. So I am grateful for all that.
QYou seem to have gotten under the skin of your character in Maharani. What was the preparation you undertook? The character I play onscreen is of a village woman, who is very docile and illiterate and whose only ‘business’ is her household chores. In real life, I am an actor and went to college in Delhi. So building a character that I do not know and making it look real was very difficult. For example, while in real life I know how to jot my signature, the unfamiliarity that I had to showcase through the character was a big challenge. So as far as preparations went, I tried to understand the role and built it piece by piece in my
head.
Q
How much are you inclined towards political affairs in real life, and how much do you keep yourself updated with?
I literally have a zero understanding and knowledge about politics and would prefer remaining clueless about it. While playing a role, I am given a few lines that I speak and if my audiences like it they clap, but that’s about it. Q Have you never been into politics even during your college days?
I was in a women’s college, which, added to my days in girls’ schools, helped me understand female friendships and how women nurture and empower each other. So while I am aware of basic human rights and women empowerment, I never got involved in or understood politics at all.
QIn Maharani, your character Rani Bharti was subjected to being made fun of, as many women in real life are too. Also, men don’t prefer working under a woman’s leadership. What’s your take on that subject?
No matter which field you choose to work in, there’s some comparison made. No matter what you do — household chores or work as an actress or behind the camera — there is inequality. We’re all beneath one glass ceiling, where either society or another factor is stopping you from breaking it, and women are told we can’t grow beyond that.
Let’s talk about the same treatment for a man and a woman. Are things changing at all? For instance, the variation in payment between a male and female actors? All this despite the support lent to us by the fabulous women in our lives, be it our grandma, mothers or any other woman including actresses in the industry who supported and celebrated our growth as they fulfilled their dreams and achieved so much while helping us get ahead in life.
So, yes, there’s less weightage given to a woman’s words, which should not happen, and we need to address and rectify that.
I look back at my career as a dream coming true, slowly. I dreamt to be an actress and I didn’t know how it was going to come true but I kept dreaming, and god was kind enough to make it happen. As for what’s ahead, I’m never satisfied, and keep doing new
things. I want to be remembered as an actress whose work is always
remembered
I believe beyond success or failure, the only constant is oneself. Today, I am still the very person I was when I was not successful — the same girl who came from Delhi. I realise that all this success is not because of me but because of a variety of other reasons, including the team, the right director, the right showrunner, the right script, and a lot of people’s energy, time and efforts towards making this success a reality