“Zoya is like Nawazuddin (Siddiqui). The moment you put him in front of a camera, he takes on a completely different note. When you see her on screen, you will look back at her very differently (sic),” filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had said in an interview to a news site in 2018.
When one of the most talented filmmakers of the country takes your name in the same breath as one of the most talented artistes this country has produced, that is high praise indeed.
Here, the filmmaker was referring to Zoya Hussain, 30, who made her sparkling screen debut in 2017’s critically-acclaimed movie Mukkabaaz. Her feisty performance in the film as a speech-impaired Brahmin girl who falls in love with a struggling boxer made a lasting impression on the audience’s minds.
In the years that followed, Hussain has appeared in a couple of interesting films and projects, including Laal Kaptaan with Saif Ali Khan and Prateek Kuhad’s music video "Cold/Mess". Very soon, she will be seen in Disney + Hotstar’s Grahan, marking her debut in a web series.
Outsider tales
If the Delhi girl is getting to be a part of exciting projects now, it is only after years of struggling to get auditions, trying to get in touch with the right people in the industry, and making ends meet in a city which was not home.
“I moved to Mumbai in 2012, which was a bit outlandish for somebody not connected to this city in any way,” says Hussain - she had been part of the Yatrik Theatre Group in the Capital prior to shifting cities.
“I had always been quite independent even before coming here, but adjusting to a new city takes time. For the first couple of months, it’s all about figuring bijli, pani, khana-peena, groceries and the rains! I remember reaching so many auditions after getting drenched in the downpour and looking like a wreck!” Hussain laughs at the memory now.
The actor acknowledges there are disadvantages to being an outsider. The initial hurdle of convincing your parents to let you move to another city to act is followed by the first few months spent adjusting to a new place and running your own house. But the biggest challenge an outsider faces is not knowing whom to meet and how, and later, staying motivated when things don’t seem to be going your way.
“It takes a long time because nobody is waiting for you to walk into that office. It’s not like they are against you, but they don’t even know you exist. You don’t get taken seriously and get pushed around a lot. And yes, people are not very nice sometimes,” Hussain says. She adds that being cast in a lead role is a big deal and doesn’t happen easily. “It may happen but it takes years and you spend your entire 20s getting to that point. It’s difficult to stay afloat,” she says.
Hussain says there are pros and cons to being a star kid, too. “They have access to the right people from a young age, but they also have so much pressure and baggage which is not their fault,” she adds. Nepotism, she believes, exists in every industry. “In our industry, there is also a lot of fame and public adulation involved. Now with social media, it’s a whole different ballgame because they have massive followings even before their first film has released,” she says.
Her big break
Mukkabaaz turned out to be her debut movie, but Zoya had actually shot for Ukranian director Dar Gai’s Teen Aur Aadha before that. “I was adapting a short story from the stage for film, and at that time, I wanted to direct it, and wanted Anurag’s feedback. Then we got talking about what else I am doing and I told him about Dar’s film,” she recalls. One thing led to another and not only did Kashyap end up co-producing Teen Aur Aadha, he also cast Zoya in a movie he was making. “That film didn’t take off and I became a part of Mukkabaaz instead,” she says.
Far from having any apprehensions about her role that required her to emote without dialogues, Hussain believes her character actually played to her strengths. “Also, I was getting to do my first proper Hindi film with Anurag Kashyap. I would have done anything he offered me!” she laughs. Not only did she get to act in the movie, it was also a great chance for her to learn the technical aspects of movie-making from the some of the best technicians in the business.
Online presence
With her upcoming debut in the OTT space with Grahan, the artiste is again getting the opportunity to discover and learn about a new format. “The longer format allows you to get into so many details. Even a simple conversation between two people in a format like this can be longer. Things like that were new for me,” says Hussain. She adds that doing workshops with her co-actors including veteran Pawan Malhotra – who plays her father in the show – and working on their backstories was an enriching experience.
Another first for her is playing the role of a cop in the show that follows two interlinked stories in the aftermath of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. Hussain plays IPS officer Amrita who is investigating a case that turns out to be more personal than she could have imagined.
“I wanted to play the role with a great deal of responsibility and sensitivity because you are wearing a uniform and you must honour it. The workshops really helped. When you train to be in the forces, there is a certain body language and command that comes with it. You see that side of her but also see a softer side. We wanted her to be a whole person and so, we worked on these aspects extensively,” she says.
Future fare
For someone who started her film career playing a mute girl with no dialogues, Zoya will be seen mouthing dialogues in three different languages in the trilingual film Haathi Mere Saathi, also starring Rana Daggubati.
“I would love to do films in other languages," says Hussain. "There is some great cinema out there, and I feel that artistes and technicians should not limit themselves to just one industry and language. I only hope I am able to put myself out there, be more accessible so that people are able to reach out to me and I am able to reach out to them,” says the self-confessed introvert.
If things go well, there is also script-writing and direction in the future for the artiste who has dabbled in a bit of writing for stage. “I would love to write and direct in the future, and I am sure I will, given the resources and knowledge I have now. I just need to learn a lot more technically in order to do that,” she says.
Hussain adds that she has written a few things that she would like to see come alive on screen. “It’s just timing and experience that’s required to make it happen,” she says.