Huma Qureshi remembers the early stages of her shoot for Pa. Ranjith’s Kaala, headlining Rajinikanth, about a year ago. “It was a different experience shooting in Dharavi. It was crazy, chaotic and the crowds would get hysterical when Rajini sir stepped out for the shoot,” she tells us in a brief chat, ahead of the press conference in the city. The team chose to host a press conference in Hyderabad over Chennai, reportedly owing to the superstar’s political entry in Tamil Nadu. But Qureshi wouldn’t venture towards that topic and maintains, “We are lucky to be here, Hyderabad is a beautiful city.”
Kaala is her first Tamil film and she asserts that the clinching factor to be a part of it was the “strong and complex role” that Ranjith offered her. “I was excited to be acting with Rajini sir, but what I also loved was the role offered to me. It’s not often that you find such a well-etched character for a female actor in a typical ‘mass’ film,” she explains.
Qureshi plays the part of Zareena, a Tamil Muslim and the story spans three decades, showing her transformation from a 20-year-old to a woman in her 50s. “I shot for 40 to 45 days and absolutely loved the story and my part. It’s not unidimensional. Zareena is so real, unlike a cardboard heroine character, and I could understand the choices she makes through her journey; she’s a feminist who stands up for what she believes in. I would term her as a woman of today.”
She doesn’t believe in prepping much before going to the sets and though she worked overtime to get the Tamil lines right, keenly observing how people spoke on the sets, Qureshi says she never felt overwhelmed by the language. “Tamil is not a language I speak, so I chose not to dub. My dialogues were translated in English so that I could understand them; then I would learn the Tamil lines and there was assistance on the sets to help me get the stresses and pauses right.”
After filming one schedule in Dharavi, she got a taste of Chennai when the team moved to a set in the outskirts of the city, recreating a portion of Dharavi. “The production team [led by art director Ramalingam] had painstakingly worked on the sets that look realistic and lived in,” she mentions. The sets have already garnered praise in film circles for the production team’s meticulous recreation of dhobi ghat, kumbherwada, the Dharavi market and other areas.
Since the time she signed Kaala, a few Tamil and Telugu projects have come her way but Qureshi hasn’t chosen any, yet.
Before she signs off, she doffs her hat to Rajinikanth, a superstar whom she found “simple and sweet”, who made the working atmosphere seem comfortable that she never felt intimidated. “Even before joining the shoot, I was more excited than apprehensive and I was proven right. I am glad I grabbed the opportunity to work in Kaala.”