Huma Qureshi – ready to shake you up in ‘Oculus’ remake (‘Zahhak’)

August 7 2015

A rising star not afraid of making leftfield choices, she’s now delving into horror but quite different from the usual fare that comes under this banner in India. She and her brother and director tell us about the Indian remake of Hollywood film, ‘Oculus’…

THERE’S a versatility about Huma Qureshi, a beauty that’s softly bewitching and a talent probably still in the process of unfurling fully and substantially, like the bunched-up and hitherto unseen train of an elaborate wedding dress.

You can’t imagine it being anything less than elegant. Just about to return to India for shooting Gurinder Chadha’s “The Viceroy House” and in Berkshire for the shooting of the Indian remake of the Hollywood hit horror film, “Oculus“, you can feel a certain sense of an actor on the runway and really about to take off.

That she will become more familiar to western audiences could well be a game changer for her. She already had something of a name for herself here in film circles, as one of the stars of Indian indie icon director, Anurag Kashyap’s two-part epic, “Gangs of Wasseypur“.

Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, she was among the film’s talent that travelled to Riviera town and won a bunch of approving notices. She didn’t look out of place among the beautiful people there.

Huma Qureshi on set in Berkshire

So what is she doing in a spooky horror film? It’s hardly a genre in India an upcoming star would choose.

“It’s not a conventional horror film,” she told www.asianculturevulture.com in a break from shooting. “It’s more psychological and intense. We’re talking about deep emotions, about family, separation, memory.”

The original, “Oculus” (2014) was something of a sleeper hit. Made for about $5m in went onto gross nearly $30m and was noted for its intelligence and mental acuity. This was no ordinary jump ‘em, spook ‘em flick, but an intense study of mind, memory and the very notion of mental stability.

A young boy is convicted of killing his parents but his sister feels she knows the truth behind the murders and blames it on an everyday object which has extraordinary supernatural powers.

“It is a challenging role,” continued Qureshi. “To go into that corner of your head and imagine something.”

For the first time, she’s acting alongside her real-life brother actor, Saqib Saleem – (more on him here).

“Honestly, I thought it would be easier working with my brother but actually it’s more difficult – sometimes your real emotions and your scene emotions get mixed up

“In one scene I did, something really bad had happened to the family and I was talking to him about it and there was a tear in my eye as though it really was about our family. It does feel very real.”

It’s hard to imagine Saleem as sad, withdrawn and isolated – as the main character (‘Tim’ from “Oculus”) should be. But this is acting.

“When I saw ‘Oculus’ it blew my mind, it’s a really original film,” Saleem told www.asianculturevulture.com in a separate interview. “Okay, it scares you but it also makes you think – that’s what it did to me.

“When the offer of me and Huma came it was very exciting as there’ll be very few scripts that we do get to do together and this felt right.”

The film’s working title is “Zahhak” but is likely to change.

Huma Qureshi takes a break from filming

Prawaal Raman, director, told www.asianculturevulture.com he was clear this was not your run of the mill, Indian spookie.

A director of several Hindi horror films, his stock has been steadily rising – and he wants to something more challenging and original.

On casting Qureshi and Saleem, he said: “I wanted two different personalities and this is not about sibling rivalry – it’s about what effects them very personally and brings them together.”

In not so many words – a particular form of chemistry and everything Raman said points towards attempting to take the genre a notch higher in India.

“There is formula with these films, the ones that make money, everybody follows that and what marketing works and it just gets repetitive, it’s all very tired and not about the content.”

In India too, horror films are allowed to be a more little more risqué when it comes to flesh and depicting more overt sexuality on film. The censor board is more forgiving.

“There’s titillation – this is about challenging people intelligently.”

And shooting in part of an English country house was important for him.

“It adds to the sense of isolation this family feels. It’s not the usual tourist sites,” he joked. “It’s original.”

Qureshi herself is a fan of the horror genre, despite its dodgy rep in India.

“I do like the horror genre, it’s up and coming in India and people like getting spooked.”

She is well aware of the response most horror films in India invoke.

“It’s considered very tacky, there are bad costumes, fake teeth, fake blood. What we are trying to is to make a horror movie to international standards with a good storyline.

“We want to make something far more sublime, more content based which is genuinely scary and makes you jump of your seat literally and spooks you,” she said ever-so calmly.

Bollywood is changing. Actors like Qureshi are helping to change it; once upon a time actors from theatre and the independent sector rarely made into a big production, but these days the barriers have lowered and there’s more scope for good actors to ply their craft in productions, big and small.

“I think our industry is evolving. We are making interesting choices. It is the state of the art making choices.

“I don’t like the word independent, I like the word, for want of anything better – interesting mainstream. And we are part of this interesting mainstream. It’s doing well, people are watching these films – that have a story.”

She certainly isn’t going to confine herself to one type of role and clinching a leading part in Chadha’s next film will only help to bolster her growing reputation. There are unconfirmed reports that she will appear alongside Colin Firth, Saif Ali Khan and Naseerudin Shah but Qureshi was not able to talk about her role.

“I had to audition for it. There’s no perfect role, sometimes as actors we occupy certain mindspaces and so whatever mindspace I happen to be in, I’d like to do something diametrically opposite.”

The distance from a glorious English country house in Berkshire to the dusty simmering bowl that was Imperial Delhi before Partition, doesn’t seem all that great.