Happy Birthday, Huma Qureshi: 10 Interesting Facts To Know About The Actor

Huma Qureshi birthday: Actor Huma Qureshi turns 35 today. Qureshi is not only known for her performances but also her unique selection of projects too. Unlike most Bollywood stars, she did not shy away from signing a brief role as a desperate mother in Zack Snyder’s Hollywood action thriller, Army of the Dead. Even during her limited screen appearance, Qureshi managed to leave a mark with her performance. Her Hindi web series Maharani, that was released this year, also garnered much praise for the actor.

But did you know that the Gangs of Wasseypur actor worked as a theatre actor and model before beginning her film career? And, that the 35-year-old's social outreach work off-camera is as significant as the work she does on camera?

Here are 10 interesting things to know about birthday girl Huma Qureshi:

1. Born and brought up in Delhi, Qureshi was born into a business family. Her father, Saleem Qureshi, runs a chain of ten restaurants under the name Saleem's. Huma chose acting over pursuing studies abroad.

2. After completing her bachelor’s in History with Honors from the Gargi College, University of Delhi, Qureshi performed in a few theatre productions in the city before getting her big break in films.

3. Qureshi shifted to Mumbai in 2008. Her younger brother, Saqib Saleem, soon followed in his sister's footsteps to pursue a career in acting. Qureshi worked with Aamir Raza Hussain, NK Sharma, Sohaila Kapoor in the One Act Theater group as she wanted to prove to her parents that acting was a good choice.

4. Her gamble paid off. She was eventually signed by renowned director Anurag Kashyap for the two-part crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur which marked her Bollywood acting debut. She was one of 200 actors roped in, but also among those who stood out.

5. Qureshi may have shot to fame with her debut film, but her role in the short film Sujata, that was also directed by Anurag Kashyap  earned her further acclaim. Since then, the actor has worked in several Bollywood hits like Ek Thi Daayan, Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, Badlapur and Jolly LLB 2.

6. She was signed as the sole female agent in D-Day (2013) to star alongside Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. Qureshi then featured in Dedh Ishqiya (2014), where she held her own among performers like Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Arshad Warsi.

7. Prior to doing these movies, she appeared in a number of television commercials for various brands. She had also appeared in web series Leila (2019), where she played the role of  an aggrieved mother trying to find her daughter in a divisive and dystopian India, and the political drama Maharani (2021). Qureshi played the wife of Bihar’s chief minister, forced to fill the seat of political power.

8.  Qureshi is a voracious reader and has written a modern fantasy fiction with a superheroine at its centre. Initially pitched as a television series to be made abroad, Qureshi has now turned it into a book.

9. The actor has always been driven by social work. Last year, Qureshi became vocal about the importance of not ignoring one’s mental health and came up with a series on social media, aiming to begin a conversation about mental health, called It’s Neverrr Too Late.

10. She was actively involved with COVID-19 relief operations this year, building a ‘temporary hospital facility’ in Delhi with 100 beds and an oxygen plant. The COVID-19 care unit included a children’s ward, a paediatric ICU and a neonatal ICU.

Feature Image Credit: Huma Qureshi /Instagram

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