Huma Qureshi on playing college professor in ‘Mithya’: I wanted her to be cool and modern

By PTI

MUMBAI: Huma Qureshi says part of the reason for taking up ZEE5 series “Mithya” was to break the cycle of stereotypical portrayal of college professors in films and web shows.

In the psychological-thriller show, directed by Rohan Sippy, Qureshi stars as a Hindi literature professor, a role that she has never essayed earlier in her career.

“I have never done a thriller before. I’ve never played a professor on-screen either, let alone a Hindi professor. It is a nice way to be part of a project that allows me to do something new. My attempt was to approach it in a way that I’ve never done. There’s a stereotypical image of a professor but I wanted her to be cool, relatable, modern. These are things I have tried to bring to play this role,” Qureshi told PTI in a Zoom interview.

The actor said she based her character on her school history teacher in terms of the look.

“I picked the look and personality, which looked good from that professor but maybe the person has a life that is not so perfect,” she added.

“Mithya” is an adaptation of 2019 British series “Cheat”, headlined by Katherine Kelly and Molly Windsor.

Qureshi said she saw two episodes of the original show and fell in love with it instantly.

With the Indian adaptation, the actor said the basic plot remains the same but the treatment is different.

“The best thing about British shows is that their writing is very deep, their world, the interpersonal relationships are very strong and very clear and I love them. But we have brought a lot of interesting dynamics, we have shot it very differently, the pitching of the performances, the characters where they come from all that is contextualised to Indian context.”

The six-part series, which is scheduled to release on February 18 on ZEE5 also stars Parambrata Chatterjee, Rajit Kapur and Samir Soni in pivotal roles.

It is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Rose Audio Visual Production.

As an actor, Qureshi completes 10 years in the film industry in 2022.

It was filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s two-part crime-drama “Gangs of Wasseypur” that gave her a chance to showcase her potential to the audiences as well as the critics.

Over the years, she has been part of the hits like “D-Day”, “Dedh Ishqiya”, “Badlapur”, “Jolly LLB” and also made her digital debut with Netflix’s “Leila”.

In 2021, Qureshi was praised for her performances in SonyLIV series “Maharani” and Netflix movie “Army of the Dead”, which marked her foray into Hollywood.

The actor said that her aim going forward in her career remains the same.

“I am doing work that excites me, working with some amazing people who I want to work with and playing characters that are interesting. It is very fulfilling… The beautiful thing about acting is I can play different characters or I would feel very stifled if I do the same thing again and again. It is always about a few basic things for me like the project has to be good, the writing should be good, character should be interesting and it should give me a scope to do something new.”