Huma Qureshi opens up about acting, breaking stereotypes and challenges in the film industry at IFP season 16

Huma Qureshi has consistently taken on challenging roles, from a deaf-mute killer in Baby Do Die Do to Badi Didi in Delhi Crime 3. At IFP Season 16, during a candid session with writer Mohar Basu titled Many Lives of Huma Qureshi, the actor opened up about her journey, the filmmakers who shaped her career, the roles she wants to play, and the challenges facing the film industry today.

Huma Qureshi recalls first interaction with Anurag Kashyap

Recalling her first interaction with Anurag Kashyap, Huma said she was convinced he was pulling her leg when he offered her a role in Gangs of Wasseypur. “I was very naive,” she said, telling him, “Sir abhi to main aayi hoon, abhi to bahut struggle karna hai mujhe.” Looking back at her journey, she credited filmmakers including Kashyap, Abhishek Chaubey, Sriram Raghavan, and Vasan Bala for giving her the freedom to explore layered characters. She also revealed that she still has her Badlapur script with Raghavan’s handwritten notes, including the question, “What is she thinking right now?”

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Huma Qureshi: 'I want to play Kabir Singh'

Speaking about the kind of characters she is drawn to, she said, “I feel you have to give yourself the liberty to play outrageous characters, to play morally ambiguous characters, to play characters that don’t follow the norm.” She summed up her resistance to passive female roles with a pointed declaration: “I want to play Kabir Singh, I don't want to play Preeti.” She added, “If somebody offers me a role in which villain hero ko maar raha hai aur main wahan pe khade hoke ro rahi hoon aur bol rahi hoon, ‘Please isey mat maaro (“He’s beating him, and I’m standing there crying, saying, ‘Please don’t hit him). Am I not the wrong cast for it? Yes, 100% wrong cast. Ek lappad to main bhi marungi.”

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She further continued recalling her experience on Leila, the Netflix series directed by Deepa Mehta. Huma recalled how Mehta physically restricted her movements to mirror her character’s entrapment, while the handheld camera and 25mm lens stayed close to her face. “I think this show really changed me as a performer,” she said. “I was literally bare in this show.” She described the series as a defining experience, adding, “I think people see the tip of the iceberg, but this definitely is the foundation stone.”

Huma Qureshi on her challenging roles

Huma also discussed the challenges of playing characters whose actions she personally detests, citing her role as a human trafficker in Delhi Crime. “You don't justify,” she said. “As an actor, it is not your job to justify, to think for them, to apply your own moral compass to them.” Drawing a parallel with Leonardo DiCaprio’s role in Django Unchained, she added, “As actors, sometimes we have to do things that we are uncomfortable with, because the truth of that moment and the truth of the film demand that.”

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Her recent transition to producing with her brother Saqib Saleem at Baby Do Die Do has given her a different view of the industry. “Being an actor is club class,” she said, describing a producer as “a service provider". “That whole journey has changed me,” she noted, adding that producing is “quite addictive".

Addressing the challenges of bringing audiences to cinemas, Qureshi questioned whether theatrical opportunities should be limited to films with large budgets and marketing spends. “I realise how hard it is in today’s day and age to actually sell tickets to people when they go watch a film. And it’s not the same as easy viewing at home,” she said. Making a case for a more diverse theatrical landscape, she added, “The business is not sustained by that one big film in a year. It will be sustained by multiple and different kinds of films.”

Huma also spoke about her ambition to take Indian stories to global audiences, a goal she said has become even more exciting after her experience as the only Indian at the Emmys this year. “I’m really excited about telling our stories for the world,” she said. “I feel we have to sort of en masse go and take our culture, our stories, globally.”

The conversation also touched on Bayaan, Huma Qureshi’s independent film that travelled to the Toronto and Busan film festivals. Reflecting on its journey, she said, “It’s a very beautiful film. I highly recommend that you all watch it.” She also credited the audience’s response with helping the film find a platform, adding, “I think it’s the power of how you all have responded to the film that has forced people to actually be like, ‘No, we need to have this film on our platform,' so thank you for that.”