Huma Qureshi at Pipal Tree. Picture: Pabitra Das

I haven’t been able to have any Bengali food yet!” mock-complained Huma Qureshi, a self-confessed fan of shorshe maach and begun bhaja. The actress, seen this year in Ek Thi Daayan and D-Day, was in town on Wednesday to inaugurate Pipal Tree, a hotel in Rajarhat. t2 caught up with the refreshingly real Gangs of Wasseypur actress.

You’ve been tweeting a lot about spending a lot of your time these days watching films at the MAMI (Mumbai Association of Moving Images) festival...

Yaaaa! It’s time well spent. Most of the venues screening the good films are near my home and so I kind of pop in on my way back home. I have watched a few... not as many as I would have liked to because I have been busy.

Which has been your best watch so far?

I really liked this Marathi film called Vakratunda Mahakaaya that stars this child actor called Naman (Jain) who was a part of Chillar Party and Bombay Talkies. He’s very good.

You recently lashed out at a fashion blog that criticised your clothes at MAMI…

Did I lash out? (Laughs) Constant scrutiny is something that I signed up for when I became an actress. I try and have fun with it whenever I can, but I also love the fact that how I dress up...whether I have matched my shoes to my clothes... is really that important to some people (laughs). It gives me a great sense of self-importance. I just wrote that when you are rushing from one venue to another to watch films, it’s somewhat tough to do so in stilettos. But whatever I wear, whatever I do is for myself and not really to conform to anyone’s ideas.

And yet you’ve gone and lost so much weight. For someone who was proud of your body type and didn’t want to fit into a box, don’t you think you are trying to conform?

Not really. I am just taking care of myself. I haven’t been killing myself to lose those extra pounds and that’s what matters. No binge diets or back-breaking workouts for me. I don’t look malnourished, do I? I am not aiming for size zero. I am enjoying my workouts. I have always been a foodie. For me, losing weight has been all about the freedom to wear more kinds of clothes and feeling good about myself. I am not doing it to fit into set images or stereotypes.

Your films this year, Ek Thi Daayan and D-Day, have been very diverse...

Both were very special because D-Day had me playing a R&AW agent for the first time while in Daayan, I was playing a witch for the first time! (Laughs) For me, every film I have done till now has been special because there is so much investment in terms of time and energy. Both these films had a lot for me to do and that was the best part of them for me. I would hate to do a film where I was just doing a song and two scenes and I was doing it just for the money. Till today, touch wood, I haven’t had to do a film like that (smiles). While D-Day got me a lot of compliments, I think the best compliment was that I got to share screen space with such big names like Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and Arjun Rampal. With Daayan, I just had a blast being wicked. It was so much fun.

And you have a biggie coming up in January — Dedh Ishqiya with Madhuri Dixit and Naseeruddin Shah…

That’s a very, very special film. By November, the promos will be out. It’s a different world that’s been created in the film. I loved Ishqiya and I remember watching it at a time when I didn’t even know I wanted to be an actress. It’s such a huge honour to be part of that franchise. It’s a great team and the film transports you into another zone. That’s all I can say about it now (laughs). But yes, it’s very special.

You’ve grown up watching Madhuri’s films. Was it a fangirl experience on set?

I was sooooooo tongue-tied the first time I met her. But she’s such a warm person… she’s someone whose smile truly reaches her eyes. That’s why so many people are crazy about her smile. For someone who has such a humongous body of work and who captured the imagination of millions of fans for so many years, she’s unbelievably real. In between shots, we would have regular conversations where she would tell me about her kids and the pranks they played and how they would shove things up their noses (laughs). I would listen to her and the fangirl in me would be like: ‘Wow, this could be my mum talking!’

You’ve apparently watched some of her films many, many times….

(Laughs out loud) Yes I have! She was so brilliant in all her roles. She looked stunning in Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! I have watched that film a million times…. I think MF Husain and I were the only people on this planet who watched this film so many times! (Cracks up)

You’ve also wrapped up an experimental 10-in-1 film called X. What was that experience like?

Quite challenging. My bit is being directed by Raja Sen, who’s a well-known film critic. My story is just the interaction between two people, that’s me and Anshuman Jha (Love Sex Aur Dhokha). The camera is on my face throughout and just shows his back. So everything you see in that short is just through my face and my expressions. I really had to work my socks off for that one!

When do we see you and your brother Saqib Saleem (Mere Dad Ki Maruti, Bombay Talkies) in a film together?

Ya, man! I am really looking forward to someone casting us in a film together. But I should have the better part! (Laughs) If you ask Saqib the same question, he will tell you that he wants a film where the sister gets killed off within the first 10 minutes and her picture hangs on the wall throughout while he gets to play the main role! (Laughs out loud)

Is having a sibling in the industry an advantage or a disadvantage?

It’s been an advantage for me. We bully each other all the time and yet are each other’s support system. Even though he’s younger, I seek his advice about work because he’s a part of this industry. We live together, we eat together, we chill out together. He’s always there for me, as I am for him.