Huma Qureshi: I'm not competing with Madhuri in Dedh Ishqiya

Highlights

• For Huma Qureshi working with her idol Madhuri Dixit in the upcoming film Dedh Ishqiya was a dream come true and the actress says she never once felt insecure about sharing screen space with the Bollywood actress.
• The 27-year-old actress and Madhuri are the new additions to the 2010 sequel Ishqiya' directed by Abhishek Chaubey.
• The film will see Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi reprising their roles of Khalujaan and Babban from the original film.
• Huma says right from the time she signed the film till finishing it, she was aware of her part and the makers never let her feel like a second lead in the movie.
• "Madhuri is the quintessential heroine of all times. There is a lot of pressure when you are working with her, but she made it really easy for me. When I decided to sign the film, I knew exactly what I was doing. So there was no apprehension or insecurity.
• "Even on the set, I had a great team, a great director, who never once made me feel that there is some sort of disparity or that I am the second lead," Huma told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of the India International Film Festival (IFFI).
• "And most importantly I never thought that I was competing with her. I think it is a huge compliment for me that I am starring with her in the film. You can't compete with the Sun. There can be no competition," she said.
• Dedh Ishqiya will hit theatres on January 10 next year.
• Huma made her acting debut with director Anurag Kashyap's magnum opus Gangs of Wasseypur'last year. She followed it up with other films with multiple stars such as Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, Ek Thi Daayan and D-Day.
• Though she has not consciously chosen to be part of movies with a multiple star cast, Huma is happy to get strong roles in such films and not get lost in a pool of other actors. "Even in films with multiple stars, female characters are not just one-dimensional - there is so much more to them. I think that is amazing. I would love to do a film that is entirely about me- maybe a biopic or a historical character.
• "But till then as long as I am getting strong roles in films with multiple stars like Gangs of Wasseypur, Ek Thi Daayan or D-Day, I am not complaining. I will do a female lead film but it has to be the right one," Huma said.
• Huma also believes that the stature of women portrayed in films nowadays has changed drastically and actresses have moved on from playing the arm candy to the main lead. "During the time of Nutan and Waheeda Rehman ji, female centric roles were written and they did characters that were much more evolved and rounded. But in between we lost our way and women were just ad-ons.
• "However, now it is different. The kind of roles that are being written and the films that are being made today are far better. Nowadays female centric films are not just about the sad plight of women but they are about celebrating womanhood," Huma said.