There is a market for women-led stories, says Huma Qureshi

MUMBAI: Actor Huma Qureshi says the market is ready for women-led stories but there are not enough movies that put female-centric characters and stories in the front.

Qureshi, who has headlined web series such as “Leila” and “Maharani” and plays the role of an undercover agent in her upcoming film “BellBottom”, has also come up with a story about a brown girl superhero.

“The amount of films that should have been made with female-centric characters or women leading the cast is less. They are being made but I feel there should be more such films. There is a need for it and the market is also ready for these kinds of stories,” the “Gangs of Wasseypur” star told PTI in an interview.

Talking about her story, Qureshi, 35, said she decided to write it during the pandemic as she had free time. “As actors, we are dependent on other people to write stories for us, so why can’t I write for myself? I am enjoying it,” Qureshi said, adding that “The News Room” screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is one of her favourites in Hollywood.

The actor recently made her Hollywood debut with Zack Snyder’s zombie heist thriller “Army of the Dead” and she is keen to act in more international projects. “My plan is to do some interesting work in the West. It is a great opportunity for me to work with good filmmakers and studios,” she added.

In “BellBottom”, which is fronted by Akshay Kumar, Qureshi said actor-producer Jackky Bhagnani offered her a small yet pivotal role. The Ranjit M Tewari-directed is set in the 1980s and revolves around one of India’s forgotten heroes, who rescued 210 hostages from a hijacked Indian plane.

It is written by Aseem Arrora and Parveez Shaikh. “I play a special undercover agent, who works at the airport and is helping Indian agents get back to the hijacked plane and that’s how she becomes crucial to the mission. The film is about a mission and how all these people (agents) come together. I am glad I did this film, it has a lot of dramatic and edge-of-the-seat moments,” she said.