If Indians were inherently a divided lot, we wouldn’t have stuck together and stayed united, says the star of film Partition: 1947
The more we know about our past and the mistakes we committed, the more solid a foundation we have to go into the future, says actor Huma Qureshi.
It’s probably a belief reinforced, if not etched fresh, by her experience of working in Partition: 1947, British Indian director Gurinder Chadha’s new film which is seen as an attempt to challenge the British narrative of the world’s largest forced migration.
In the capital to promote the film, Qureshi, 31, ponders over the politics and carnage of the time but says that as she reflects on her own life in this context, she has seen far more instances of love and bonhomie between communities than of hatred.
“I don’t think there is any inbred hatred,” the self-avowed optimist tells ThePrint in an interview as she opens up about issues of religious and gender identity with a kind of candour and nuance largely unseen in the film industry.
“The fact that I’m a woman, the fact that I’m Muslim, the fact that I’m able to express myself and follow the career of my choice is proof that there is ample opportunity (in India) for someone like me,” she says, even as she acknowledges that not everyone enjoys the same privileges she does.
Qureshi grew up in South Delhi, dabbled in theatre productions and appeared in television commercials before her acting skills impressed director Anurag Kashyap and he cast her in his much acclaimed two-part film Gangs of Wasseypur.
Qureshi, however, insists she is not political. “I don’t understand the intricacies of politics. However, I do understand human rights, equality, liberty…they are very commonsensical values, which have nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with the society we live in.”
Speaking of liberal values, the actress, like many others from her profession, does not shy away from the F-word. “Yes, I identify myself as a feminist…I’d be doing my alma mater a great disservice if I said no to that question,” she says.
Qureshi graduated from Delhi University’s Gargi College and describes herself on her Twitter bio as “passionate, foolish, all heart lioness”, besides actor, writer, traveller, foodie.
But as most people’s, her definition of feminism too has a twist. “I don’t want to be a wanna-be man,” she says. In their bid to achieve equality with men, a lot of women end up abandoning femininity altogether, which again in turn amounts to playing by the male rules, she explains.
“Being a feminist does not mean dissing all the female values that you have,” says the actress who is only five years old in the film industry but has come for much praise for her acting skills. However, she agrees that women are reprimanded more than men for speaking their minds.
While she declines to comment specifically on the recent controversy sparked by Kangana Ranaut’s observation about nepotism in the film industry, Qureshi says “there is a deep-rooted mentality in society that women should be seen, not heard”.
Speaking for herself and women around her, she says, “I guess people do feel threatened by intelligent women. However, I don’t believe in a bra-burning way of expressing yourself. If we (as women) need to be respected, we don’t need to do that in an aggressive manner”.
Photograph by Nayanika Chatterjee