Huma Qureshi gets candid with her fans at Sharjah International Book Fair

Raghib Hassan, Staff Reporter

Bollywood diva Huma Qureshi charmed her fans at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) on Sunday evening. She interacted with her fans at a session titled “From screen to page: An Evening with Huma Qureshi.” She talked about the process of writing her maiden book. She also revealed how she became an author. She also encouraged her young fans to be very expressive.
Huma made her debut in “Gangs of Wasseypur” and went on to deliver powerful performances in films like “Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana,” “Badlapur,” “Monica, O My Darling,” “Tarla” and her hit series “Maharani.”
Dressed in black attire, Huma was at her candid best. She arrived at the SIBF as an author. She spoke about her superhero novel “Zeba: An Accidental Superhero.”
Talking about her character she said, “Zeba isn’t your typical superhero — she’s gritty, fierce, funny, and vulnerable, someone you could bump into on the street. She has a bit of each of us.”
“I have always loved the idea of imperfect people doing heroic things and that’s how the idea of my book originated.”
Talking about her novel, she said, “The entire book is written in first person.”
Describing her writing style, she said, “My style of writing is free flowing and lucid.”
When asked what is more challenging for her — acting or writing – she said, “Both are entirely different things.”
Sharing her process of writing she said, “I let my thoughts to come down. I did not force myself to write.” She further added, “You can’t force a flower to bloom, you have to wait patiently.”
When asked how she got the time to work on her writing, she said, “The Covid-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to write this book.”
Since her debut in Bollywood, she has experimented with all kinds of genres and has never hesitated in trying out different characters. This is clearly evident in her filmography.
Talking about that she said, “I am doing all kinds of movies at the moment. I love to explore every genre of films, be it fantasy fiction, sci-fi, historical drama, or romantic comedy. Why should I restrict myself to one genre? I am really having a blast at the moment. I am doing big films, small films and web series, I am happy doing everything.”
She was quick to add, “I love acting. Acting makes me very happy. I love when people meet me and appreciate me for my work.”
“Express yourself in an authentic way. Don’t wait for validation, there is no limit to it,” she suggested to her young fans.
Just before Huma’s interactive session, celebrated Indian writer Chertan Bhagat held the audience spellbound on Sunday evening. The 12-day cultural extravaganza, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, is themed “It Starts with a Book,” and has in store 1,357 activities for children and adults alike. It will come to a close on November 17 after playing host to 2,520 publishers from 112 countries.