Director Praawal Raman got several bits right as seen in the trailer of his upcoming horror film Dobaara. Though many who have seen Mike Flanagan’s 2013 psychological thriller Oculus, which is the inspiration for this movie, might not nod in agreement, but the film appears to be a welcome departure from the Ram Gopal Verma brand of horror in Bollywood.
The Indian director even received a thumbs up from his American counterpart, but what we got our interest hooked more was the presence of a certain Huma Qureshi, who’ll be a part of yet another dark, macabre and gloomy project. To put things into perspective, it’s worth mentioning that the Dedh Ishqiya actress’ most prominent roles have all come in such settings – be it the two-part Gangs of Wasseypur, the supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan or the collaborative feature film X: Past Is Present.
However, there’s no doubting her acting abilities. Right from her Bollywood debut with Anurag Kashyap’s critically-acclaimed Gangs of Wasseypur, she has won over many hearts with her performances. For the Nawazuddin Siddique-starrer, National Award winner Govind Nihalani even compared her to the celebrated actress Smita Patil. “Huma is a good enough actress on her own, someone who can stand apart from the crowd and hold her own,” he had remarked.
After the second part of the drama garnered rave reviews at the Cannes film festival, Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India said “Huma Qureshi, with her gaudy clothes, designer sun-glasses and unusual attractiveness is the hottest cheez in Wasseypur. She beautifully lends support as a powerful man’s ‘prouder’ better-half, even in his worst crimes.”
And despite her skills in front of the camera, it is surprising how the Delhi-born actress has restricted herself to these grim, ghastly scripts. We have seen her thrive as a feisty Punjabi girl in the Kunal Kapoor-starrer rom-com Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. She was also praised for the box-office success Jolly LLB 2, as a testimony to the acting polymath that she is. In the Akshay Kumar starrer, she fits right in as Jolly’s ‘angrezi-swigging-biwi’ as per critics.
But going forward, her forthcoming releases comprise an English debut with Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House and a supporting role in Rajinikanth’s Kaala that was first rejected by Vidya Balan — basically nothing that does justice to all that she can pull off as an actress.
A former theatre actress, Huma has demonstrated her versatility in whatever screen time she has received, but it appears as if she’s restricting herself with her movie choices. So once she gets these impending projects out of the way, we would really like her to explore more and give the audiences a chance to enjoy her entire acting skill-set through more diverse roles.
