Huma Saleem Qureshi, better known by her screen name, Huma Qureshi is an Indian model and film actress who primarily works in the Bollywood film industry. The actress, who known to portray eccentric and bold roles made her debut in the two-part crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur and Gangs of Wasseypur 2. The film directed by Anurag Kashyap was a commercial hit and was critically acclaimed. Her stellar performance in the movie won her several nominations, including Best Supporting Actress and Best Female Debut at the Filmfare Awards.
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Huma Qureshi
Early Life
Huma Qureshi was born in a typical Muslim family in New Delhi. Her father Salem Qureshi is a restaurateur who owns a chain of restaurants called Saleem`s and her mother, Ameena Qureshi is a homemaker. The actress has three brothers, Naeem Qureshi, Haseen Qureshi and Saqib Saleem, who is also an actor in Bollywood.
The actress obtained her Bachelor`s degree in History Honors from the Gargi College, University of Delhi. While studying in college, the actress joined Act 1 theater group and performed in various theater productions. Before she began her career in the film industry, she worked with several NGOs and assisted a documentary filmmaker. In 2008, she moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in films and first auditioned for a film called Junction but the movie was never made. Later, the actress signed a two-year contract with Hindustan Unilever to appear in their various commercials. She appeared in advertisements for various products like Nerolac with Shah Rukh Khan, Samsung Mobile alongside Aamir Khan, Vita Marie, Pears Soap, Mederma Cream and Saffola Oil. It was during the shoot for a Samsung Mobile that Anurag Kashyap was impressed by her acting ability and cast her in his movie, Gangs of Wasseypur.
Movie Career
Huma Qureshi was slated to make her debut in a Tamil film, Billa II opposite Ajith Kumar. The director of the film, Chakri Toleti auditioned more than 700 girls for the movie and selected Huma Qureshi to play the lead role. However, as the film got delayed, she opted out and eventually made her debut in Anurag Kayshap`s Gangs of Wasseypur. Although the actress had a small role in the film, her performance as Mohsina, the supporting wife, of her criminal husband Faizal Khan played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui was much appreciated by critics. Govind Nihalani, a noted film critic drew a comparison with yesteryear actress Smita Patil and stated that she is good enough actress to stand apart from the crowd and hold her own.
The film, which was premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival received positive critic reviews. Following the success of Gangs of Wasseypur, the actress reprised her role of Mohsina in the second installment of the two-part series, Gangs of Wasseypur II (2012). The movie was both a commercial and critical hit. In the same year, the actress signed a three-film contract with Anurag Kashyap and her first movie under the contract was Sameer Sharma`s romantic-comedy Luv Shev Tey Chicken Khurana. She was cast opposite Kunal Kapoor and essayed the role of a fiery Punjabi girl.
Her next movie, Ek Thi Daayan released in 2013 and she played the role of a witch. The movie also featuring Emraan Hashmi, Konkona Sen Sharma, and Kalki Koechlin got mixed reviews but it was a commercial hit. The actress next featured in a short movie, named Sujata directed by Anurag Kashyap. The film was screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and for her brilliant performance in the movie, she was presented a Special Mention Award at the ceremony.
In 2013, the actress featured in the underworld drama, D-Day, directed by Nikhil Advani. The movie which had an ensemble cast including Irrfan Khan, Arjun Rampal, Shruti Haasan and Rishi Kapoor was a commercial failure but Huma`s performance was much appreciated by the critics. The following year, the actress appeared in the Dedh Ishqiya, a sequel to the 2010 movie Ishqiya. The movie directed by Abhishek Chaubey also featured Madhuri Dixit, Naseeruddin Shah, and Arshad Warsi. The film grossed over INR 27 crore worldwide and Huma`s role as the companion of a con woman, played by Madhuri Dixit won her praises from critics.
In 2015, Huma appeared in the Sriram Raghavan`s crime thriller Badlapur. The movie, which also starred, Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Divya Dutta saw the actress playing the role of a prostitute and the love interest of a con man played by Siddiqui. The film was critically acclaimed and Qureshi received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Filmfare Awards that year. In the same year, the actress Marathi film debut with Highway directed by Umesh Kulkarni. The movie was an average hit and it got mixed reviews. In 2016, the actress made her Malayalam debut with Uday Ananthan`s White alongside Mammootty. Upon release, the film fared pretty well at the box office. In her first release of 2017, the actress collaborated with director Subhash Kapoor in the Indian black comedy film Jolly LL.B 2, the second installment in the Jolly LLB series. The film starring Akshay Kumar, Annu Kapoor, and Saurabh Shukla received average critical reviews and fared decently at the box office. Her other notable works include Dobaara: See Your Evil (2017), Kaala (2018), Leila (2019), Army of the Dead (2021) and Bell Bottom (2021). She then featured in the Tamil movie Valimai (2022), a special appearance in Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022), Double XL (2022), Monica, O My Darling (2022), Tarla (2023) and Pooja Meri Jaan (2023).
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