10 years in Bollywood: Huma Qureshi on the refreshing greyness of Monica Machado and completing a decade in the industry

Huma Qureshi in 'Monica, O My Darling'. (Image: Netflix)

In a decade-long career sprinkled with some memorable roles in films such as Ek Thi Daayan, Dedh Ishqiya and Badlapur, Huma Qureshi has never played a character who is so unabashedly unapologetic about her greyness, so in command of her sexuality and so aware of the effect she has on the men around her, as that of Monica Machado in Monica, O My Darling.

Director Vasan Bala’s deliciously twisted neo-noir crime comedy thriller has been hailed as one of the best films of the year by many critics. As the film’s titular character, Qureshi is raking in the accolades for playing someone she herself has described as ‘James Bond in a red dress’ in one of her interviews.

“At no point did I judge her,” says the actress, adding that she had a ball playing someone who is so unlike her. “To come across someone who is so much in love with themselves and accept their greyness was really enjoyable for me,” she adds.

For someone who played the uneducated and de-glamourised mother of three children in the second season of the web series Maharani barely three months ago, the sultry seductress character was a 360-degree transformation.

“I am neither Maharani nor am I Monica, yet they are both me and new people at the same time. As an actor, the fun part for me is to create a new identity and to tap into unexplored territories. With Monica, it was about her beauty and her charisma but it was also about her deceptiveness and her over-smartness as well as her vulnerability,” she shares.

Also read: Monica, O My Darling is a faithful neo-noir entertainer that sticks to the rules

Scene stealers

One would be hard-pressed to recall the last time one saw a hand-to-hand combat between a man and a woman in a Hindi show or film where either side could win. It is difficult to take your eyes off the screen when Monica and Jayesh – played by the talented Rajkummar Rao – go all out to physically hurt each other. What starts on an almost goofy note turns very serious very quickly and then goes off on what Qureshi calls a ‘romantic toxic’ zone.

“This sequence was shot within the first two days of the shoot,” recalls Qureshi, who adds that although it did not require a lot of retakes, it did need a lot of planning. “There was no protective equipment or harness. I had to actually lift him (Rao). It’s really serious but it’s also so funny! And it would have been believable had Monica killed him or vice versa. It was a battle of equal underdogs,” she says.

Her other favourite scene, and one that was hardest to shoot, was when Monica serves tea to Jayesh who believes it to be poisoned. “It is so random! Even if she has to kill him, she won’t poison his tea in front of the whole office but her khauf (fear) is so much that he really believes she is capable of killing him anyway. It is so irrational but Raj and I had a lot of fun doing that scene,” she says.

Captain of the ship

Qureshi and her co-actors in the film, including Rao, Radhika Apte and Sikandar Kher, among others, have earned their share of praise for the movie, but the Badlapur actress believes that it is Bala who deserves all the credit.

“I have said this before and I will say it again. This is a director’s film. Vasan has really elevated our performances and elevated what the film is trying to say. I give him full credit for what he has created and made us do,” she says.

Having known him for almost ten years now – Bala was an assistant director on her debut film Gangs of Wasseypur – Qureshi says it feels great to see him turn into such a fine director who has such a command over the medium.

The actress had jokingly mentioned in another interview that if filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Sriram Raghavan had a child, it would be him. “That’s because both Kashyap and Raghavan have so much love for cinema, quirk and characterisation and Vasan has inherited the best of both these amazing directors,” she elaborates.

A decade of variety

From playing the gangster’s love interest Mohsina in her debut film Gangs of Wasseypur ten years ago to the glamorous blackmailer Monica in her latest movie, Qureshi cherishes each role that has strengthened her craft.

“My first dialogue in a Hindi film was to tell the man who likes her ‘permission leni chahiye na’. I don’t think I understood that line as I do now, where the woman is talking about the importance of consent before touching her. From there to Monica, it has been a really wholesome journey,” she states.

Having turned producer with her previous movie Double XL that addresses the issue of body-shaming – a film and role that is extremely close to her heart – Qureshi wants to keep creating content that is relevant, and not necessarily play the lead in it. “Post Covid, my frame of mind is such that I don’t want to feel that I have not expressed myself enough as an artist,” says the actress who has completed work on three films including a biopic on renowned chef Tarla Dalal.

“As sexy as Monica was, Tarla is diametrically opposite. She is devoid of any kind of vanity,” Qureshi says, adding that she wants to have a body of work where the audience can feel that she can pull off different roles and can carry a film or show on her shoulders.

In her tenth year of acting, Qureshi has realised that she wants to continue working till she is 70-80 years old. “The love I am getting today is because of these different roles and I want to continue exploring that,” she says.