HERE TO WRITE MY OWN STORY

Bollywood actor Huma Qureshi speaks to City Express about turning writer and her new book Zeba: An Accidental Superhero

- NITIKA KRISHNA

PEERING into her new book Zeba: An Accidental Superhero, she read a few lines with her sweet voice, before underscoring with absolute clarity and boldness the gender inequality that thrives in society. To the world, Huma Qureshi has always been a stunning and versatile actor. But that day, amid hollers and resounding applause at the Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF), everyone could see just how far the artiste had come. In a conversation post her talk, she opens up about her journey and more. Excerpts:

Tell us about your book, Zeba: An Accidental Superhero.

A couple of years ago, I got the idea for Zeba and wrote a 10-pager for a film or TV series. A lot of people showed interest but those talks came to a standstill when Covid hit. I then thought to myself, ‘Do I write a script or a book?’ I believed that writing a book was far easier, so that’s what I did. The book is about a female superhero who’s a badly behaved misfit, so much so that you almost won’t like her when you first meet her. But she ends up doing marvellous things!