Huma Qureshi Confesses Feeling ‘Lost’ After The Success Of Gangs Of Wasseypur, Says ‘I Was Insecure’

Huma Qureshi is recognised as one of the finest actors in the Bollywood industry. Her claim to fame was Anurag Kashyap’s cult classic gangster saga Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 1 and 2 in which she essayed the role of Mohsina a.k.a Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s wife. While it’s true that the film gave her an identity, in her own words, Huma Qureshi felt ‘lost’ afterwards. In her recent interaction with Barkha Dutt on Mojo Story, Huma Qureshi got candid about the challenges that followed her post 2012.

I got my first brush with success pretty early on. Maybe it was just this enthusiasm of getting out of the house and being (an actor) and then Gangs of Wasseypur happened. By 2010 I moved to Mumbai and by 2012 the film was out and it became this big hit in India. My world just exploded. This was a film where they paid me some Rs 75,000, that’s it…I am working with them (Viacom 18) now, they are my producers. But that was my first film and it wasn’t a fancy affair. There were no five-star hotels, cushioning of vanity vans or an army of people (following you). It was like a bunch of people, who went to Varanasi for three months, shot and came back. Nobody had any clue what was happening. So when it came out, I was like, ‘Whoa! I am the lead in the film? My face is on the hoarding?! Should I have gotten paid more for it? Is this how movies get made?’,” the Monica O My Darling actress shared.

Huma Qureshi recalled further that she felt lost even after the film became such a huge hit. Mulling about the same, the actress shared,

“Because for me coming to Mumbai, meeting people, doing auditions, getting a film happened rather quickly and I didn’t have a game plan after that. I was lost in choice. I was always working, that was never a problem but I was lost in myself. Like finding my own voice, finding myself, who I was, what kind of films I like to do, what I didn’t like to do. I was insecure about everything, about myself, how I looked at the work that was happening. Maybe insecure about why am I not doing the films others are doing. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I had a younger brother in the film business, who was also figuring his way out. There was a shoulder to cry on, but really no one to help you navigate that situation. But I never thought of giving up.”

Meanwhile, News18’s review of Huma Qureshi’s Tarla is out. It reads, “One star in the rating is definitely reserved for Huma and Sharib. She may not have transcended the physical attributes of the diminutive Tarla in the actual sense (except adding a few obvious freckles to her face and the protruding bunny teeth), but she has brought the home chef to life convincingly enough, leaving you rooting for her, long after the end credits roll.”