It was going to be one of those days – I knew it. You know the ones you get to before a date, but they’re forced to wait another hour. But she was a Bollywood star, so maybe it was understandable. After an hour at the Pullman Sharjah hotel reception, I was quickly and quietly ushered into the lift and towards a closed door. The bell rang, and suddenly a tinkling voice rang out—”Hello!”

And there she sat in a black suit, her jacket glittering with crystal flowers, her long red hair flowing down her back. Actress Huma Qureshi was on hand to talk about her recent project, creating a superhero named Zeba, a sassy but spoiled pot-smoking superhero who, for all her flaws, is somehow more relatable.

For Qureshi, the characters in the book have all her elements. “I think all the characters are me. The book has an interesting structure. Each chapter is in first person and each chapter is a different character driving the book forward. So while one chapter could be Ziba and her inner voice, the other could be her mother or her father. They all speak in first-person narration, so there’s no judgment. And that, for me, was very, very fascinating as a process and as an actor.”

The Monica Oh, my dear star, who spoke to wknd. on the sidelines of the Sharjah International Book Fair this week, he spoke about his birth Zeba: An accidental superherowhy she’s so into self-help books and who she’s channeling when she starts writing her story.

Zeba was born in the age of Covid; when people learned about baking and cooking and took up extra hobbies to keep isolation from seeping into their brains, when Zoom became as popular as Google, and hand sanitizer became the new must-have accessory. Qureshi, who has been in the business for over a decade, felt the big bore where the work was. “I’m a person who likes to work all the time and whose brain is always on the next thing. And so when Covid happened, I had all this time to myself and all the stuff that was inside started to come out,” she said.

“It can happen”

The bits of personality that make Zeba, Zeba, Qureshi explains, are believable. “We all thought when we were younger (that) by the time you’re 30, you’d figure it out. You know, because older people look a lot smarter when you’re a teenager, but no, they’re just as complicated and confused, and they figure it out. And I feel in particular that women, Muslim women, there’s a stereotype that comes automatically in the writing and the representation of them in popular cinema or whatever. It is not true. I am a Muslim woman. I’m not a stereotype. I’m a walking, talking, muttering mess of all sorts of contradictions, and where’s my representation?

“I didn’t see that. I’ve always seen it as an extreme version of what it means to be like that, and that’s, I think, why Zeba came about.”

At first, he wanted to use his idea to make a movie or a series. “Because it has this kind of international appeal in terms of the modern world and the Muslim world and what it means to be a woman in that world and to navigate that space, but in a very fun, fun, popular culture way ,” she said. As she considered writing a movie script or choosing to create a comic book, she felt a nudge that encouraged her to write, well. “The passionate journalist – started writing her thoughts in the 11th grade – then started to explain her idea. “I thought, ‘I’ve just got to throw this up on paper and then see what comes out of it,’ which is exactly what I did.” And I had a few friends who nudged me and pushed me in the right direction. And so, over a period of two years, it slowly took shape.”

Not one to trade her fame for a name, she chose Harper Collins as the publisher to market her book. “They pushed me. My editor asked for a rewrite… I loved that creative interaction,” she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Qureshi, who was born in New Delhi on July 28, 1986, began his acting career – which he still calls his main job – in 2012 with a stint as a supporting character in the drama. Gangs of Wasseypur.

Since then, she has swept the storytelling platforms, appearing on the big screen with hits like Badlapurin a web series (lions), and in a film that put her on 20 kilograms for her role, XL double (which you can still watch on Netflix).

“For me, it was always like playing a character – XL double it was the first film under my production company that I chose to make (and wanted) to represent every girl or every guy who has a body image problem. I put on almost 20 kilos for him. I feel like it makes you understand the female body, the male gaze, ideas of beauty,” she added.

“Even today, every time I take a selfie without makeup, people say, ‘Oh my God, she’s got no makeup on.’ And I’m like, but why is it such a big deal?”

Asked about her preferred medium – big screens versus OTT storytelling – she confidently says, “I prefer the project that pays me the most money.” This is not her not giving up on her craft, rather, she explains that she has worked hard and fought tooth and nail to get to where she is, a place where she can enjoy the proceeds of her efforts. “Do you know how hard I’ve worked to get to a point where I feel like I’m finally getting paid somewhere close to what I think the hard work I put in is worth?” she asks. “I really like (my paycheck). And I like to show off because I feel like otherwise sometimes, you know, the barber gets paid more than the actresses in the big mainstream movies.”

As she navigates the new age technology (read as artificial intelligence) that is taking over most parts of life – from travel to photography – and causes quite a stir for actors to find AI versions of themselves replicated on screen (recent examples include Harrison Ford and Tom Hanks), Qureshi asks for perspective. “Let’s say, well, we have to constantly check ourselves and have these codes of ethics,” she urges, explaining that this has to be an ongoing and ever-evolving debate. “You don’t have one law and you stay there forever. It is an evolving piece. How do you refine and ensure that there is always a better system of government in a country? The same applies to AI, the same applies to social media. Technology evolves and as we realize better uses for it or different uses for it, we have to be like, okay, not for this or not for that.”

Qureshi is an animated speaker, letting his hands do the talking or his body language convey excitement as he emphasizes a point. This is why you know he’s already got his walls up when you routinely bring in those two major superhero camps that can make even the biggest non-cartoon fan swoon. When asked if she’s a Marvel fan or a DC fan, she shakes her head, saying, “I’m a Zack Snyder fan — let’s leave it at that.”

The filmmaker responsible for Batman V Superman and Rebel Moon he did as well Army of the Dead (available on Netflix), which Qureshi was a part of. She is also in talks for other ‘Hollywood’ films (wknd. can’t confirm if this will be another Snyder production). I tried.

However, we can talk about Zeba and her adventures – and the fact that Qureshi is keen to write another book (her secondary use). She just “needs two years off,” she jokes.

Soon, Qureshi is typing furiously on her phone, even as she takes time to smile, nod and pose for photos. She’s ready to head to the fare, share her super girl with the world.

READ ALSO: