The seat between Vivek Oberoi and Omung Kumar fell vacant once Sonali Bendre bowed out after being detected with cancer. It is Huma Qureshi who has stepped in to judge the “bachchey funky, total nautanki” on Zee TV’s prime time weekend show India’s Best Dramebaaz (airs weekends on Zee TV at 9pm). t2 caught up with her in Mumbai recently.

Why did you agree to do the show?

Because of the money (bursts out laughing)! I wanted to do television for a long time. When this show came to me I thought it would be fun as I love kids and handle them well. When I am home I tell my nephews and nieces, ‘Chalo, khana banatey hai’ and they get very excited. And I make them do all the housework. If you tell them to do this and that, they won’t. 

It must have been awkward, the reason why you had to join the show at the eleventh hour. 

Yes. Sonali (Bendre) is a friend. I am praying she gets well. I messaged her in New York where she is under treatment. I also met her sister-in-law. If anyone can fight this disease, it is Sonali. She is brave and strong. When the channel contacted me, I did not know about this. It was announced the week after. The auditions were already over. I joined the panel from the grand premiere. 

This is your first time on a TV reality show. Did you give any thought as to what kind of persona to project before the audience?

Not at all. If you are being fake, people can make out. Mujh se toh nahin hota. Jo dil mein hai face pe aa jaata hai.

You must have gelled with the kids by now.

The kids are so confident, despite being six-seven years of age. They are chhote se cute se monkeys! Masti karte hai, yet they are so disciplined and focused. I congratulate the parents on their upbringing. I hardly had any focus at this age. And by going through this process, when they walk out of the show there will be a visible change in their personality, in their confidence level. The parents also acknowledge the fact. That, I believe, is their biggest gain from the show, not who wins or reaches the final.

How are you dealing with them?

Children face too much pressure because of the grading system in schools. So here we rank their performance as hit, super hit and super duper hit. So even if they get a ‘hit’, they don’t feel they have flopped. Even when they get eliminated, we tell them to do some homework and come back next year and give them lots of gifts so they go back happy. Children should have fun. There’s a child called Angelica who is a math genius. She can do whatever while doing sums in her mind. One day she was on skates while we were tossing questions at her! When things are fun, kids can enjoy it.

What about the five-year-old kid Garvit Pareek? He never seems to tire of talking!

He is adorable and is the naughtiest. And he knows people like him. So he started doing too much and we had to rein him in. In a recent episode, he had come in the red zone. I told him that it is not enough to have a charming personality, what one does in the performance with fellow actors is what matters. Film or play is a collaborative effort. I think he understood as his acts improved so much after that. Sometimes that happens with adult actors also.

Were you a dramebaaz kid yourself?

I would break things and lay the blame on my brother (actor Saqib Saleem). Once we were playing cricket and a ball I threw hit him on the head and he passed out. I got scared thinking he was gone. I told my friends that I was fleeing home and they were not to alert my parents till I was gone a long distance. Thank god, nothing happened but my parents still tease me, saying, ‘What kind of a sister are you to leave your brother dying?’

Do you want to do a web series?

Yes. Insha Allah, very soon. I think that is the future. It has become so expensive to go to the theatres where even popcorn costs so much. And the writing that is happening on Netflix is of very high quality, be it The Crown or Orange is the New Black. Sacred Games is one of the best shows to come out of India. I am so proud of the writers — Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane.

Will it hamper movies in the long run?

Aisa nahin hai ki cinema bandh ho jayega. Each medium creates its own demand. When cinema came people thought theatre will shut down. But that did not happen. Then TV came. Still people go to watch movies.

When signing a film, do you opt for content or commerce?

People like me became stars because of content. I did not get launched in a big film. Stars have also realised they have to keep evolving. (You) Can’t keep doing the same thing again and again. Today content is king. In fact, content is commerce.

STRAIGHT-TALKIN’

Favourite subject in school: English.

Favourite character in history: Cleopatra. I saw this old Hollywood film with Elizabeth Taylor. There was this scene where she comes in a carpet and they roll her out. She looked so glamorous! I want to play Cleopatra in a film. Pata nahin kaise hoga!
First ever performance: We had a group in our colony which used to put up skits in festivals. We used to do Christmas skits with stories like Jesus being born in a manger. I was around six then.
Favourite pastime on sets: Listening to music.

Favourite pastime at home: Either watching Netflix or sleeping. I binge-watch. I am in a committed relationship with Netflix and my couch. I love Black Mirror which is sci-fi, The Crown which is period, Narcos which is  thriller-Mafiosi-biopic, Peaky Blinders which is British period. (Laughs) 
Favourite companion: My four-and-half-year-old black Labrador Streak. He is a massive monster who thinks he is a puppy. I don’t have cushions at home. He has destroyed them all.

Kindle or printed book: Ooh, tricky! I never thought I’d ever give up my love for reading hardcover books. But someone bought me a Kindle and I found it very convenient. But I still buy books. 
Favourite author: Albert Camus and Orhan Pamuk. I read a lot of non-fiction nowadays. So, Malcolm Gladwell too. 
Last time you wrote a hand-written letter: It was a card on someone’s birthday.

A film showcasing dramebaazi: Any film with Ranveer Singh!

Favourite actor: Meryl Streep. She is one of the most gifted human beings ever, yet so effortless.
One thing fans don’t know about you: I am goofy, I am clumsy, I put my foot in my mouth all the time.

Sudeshna Banerjee