What women want

Huma Qureshi is excited these days. Waiting for the release of her latest movie, Jolly LLB 2, where she’s paired opposite Akshay Kumar, Huma feels humbled to have been a part of Bollywood.

“I came from Delhi to Mumbai, just to work in films. We’ve grown up watching Hindi films,” she reminisces. “It wasn’t like I received anything on a platter. I got Gangs of Wasseypur and jumped on to it. I feel lucky to have worked with directors like Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj and Sriram Raghavan.”

Huma has often opted to do offbeat movies, but she reinforces the fact that she’s done commercial cinema too. “In fact,” she says, “I’ve been associated with films that have a different story altogether. I look forward to great scripts.”

As Jolly LLB 2’s release date comes closer, Huma laughs that she would love to have a partner like Akshay’s character in the movie. “Akshay’s character not only cooks food for me, but feeds me with his hands, massages my feet and makes me sleep. In real life too, I would like to get a life partner who would do all these things for me. I would also look forward to a partner who is intelligent, handsome, loving and allows me to have my own space.”

The actress believes that not just in the Indian film industry, but even in real life, things are changing for women. “We undoubtedly live in a male-dominated world. While we talk about pairing younger actresses with older heroes, may I say, Kareena (Kapoor Khan) has broken this trend. She’s been paired with younger heroes. This privilege no more rests with only older heroes. Kareena is just one example and is just the beginning. Besides the film industry, women would often end up leaving their jobs when they married or had a baby. This trend is changing too. Whatever is shown on reel is the reflection of real life.”

An out-and-out feminist, Huma asserts that we need to raise our boys right. “Women are counted as most powerful and deserve huger respect. The way most women are treated in India is really unacceptable. Since I hail from Delhi, I know the situation of eve-teasing is prevalent there. However, it’s time to not blame the government but change our boys and men from ground up. A woman at home needs to be treated well. Boys watching women being ill-treated at home feel it is cool. Changes need to be brought by treating and respecting women at home itself,” she signs off.