Saqib Salim Qureshi remembers his childhood ritual of watching Zee Horror Show as a seven-year-old with amusement. He would wrap himself up in a blanket, lest he be attacked by the evil spirits. “The blanket had a hole in it and I used to watch the entire episode through that hole,” he laughs adding that of the two, Huma is more scared. “She doesn’t venture into corridors which are dimly lit and can’t sleep in pitch dark rooms,” he reveals while his sister nods in agreement.
The brother-sister duo will be soon seen in Dobaara: See Your Evil , an adaption of the 2012 Hollywood film Oculus , that releases this Friday. “While every genre has evolved in Bollywood, we are still making horror films which can’t be watched with your family. We have to evolve and move past all these clichés,” says Huma who believes that the film written and directed by Prawaal Raman is a step towards “breaking the clutter in its genre”.
Changing the context
Dobaara , their first film together, is based on a supernatural psychological horror by Mike Flanagan and will see the real life siblings play reel life brother and sister. The film deals with an incident that happens in the family where the siblings have two different points of view of the same event. “Our film has been adapted for the Indian sensibilities as we have made it emotionally rich, something that was missing in the original version,” reiterates Huma adding that Dobaara is not a copy of Oculus . “ This is not a film where a Patricia becomes Padma or Stewart becomes Sameer. Our value system is different from the West so it is far more nuanced than that. In fact, it is an actual adaptation where more characters have been added and the context is changed,” reveals Saqib.
The siblings who entered the industry around the same time, never thought that they’d share the screen space so early in their career. “We had spoken about working together a couple of times, but being siblings, it also limits the kind of films that can be offered to us. And then this film came along,” says Saqib who had watched the original before he was approached for the film. While filming Dobaara , Saqib reveals tried to keep it professional on the sets and treat her like any other co-actor but it wasn’t the same for his sister. “It was [easier] for him than for me, to be honest. I never dissociate from being a sister and I don’t think I can ever do that. We wouldn’t bring work home but we did end up bringing the family to the set,” she quips.
Huma who debuted with Gangs of Wasseypur– Part 1 in 2012, went on to work in films such as Ek Thi Daayan (2013), Dedh Ishqiya (2014) and more recently in Jolly LLB 2 this year, will soon will make her Hollywood debut with Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House . Incidentally, Saqib who debuted with Y-films’ Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge , never had any plans to become an actor. “I am an accidental actor. In fact I moved to Mumbai because I was dating someone who wanted to be an actor and a long distance relationship wasn’t working out. Three months later she broke up with me,” he laughs. Someone suggested to him to try his luck in modelling and his first assignment got him a remuneration of Rs 50,000. “At 21 years, I was so naïve that I thought I have to pay the ad agency. When they told me it was the other way round, I couldn’t believe my luck. I got reminded of a scene from Judaai where Sridevi has a bed full of cash.” Luckily a slew of modelling and ad film gigs led to a meeting with casting director Shanoo Sharma and his first film. “I keep reminding myself every day that I have been lucky in my career so far,” he says.
Teething troubles
Like some siblings, Huma and Saqib weren’t close while growing up in Delhi. “We were always warring and complained against each other to our parents. But one ritual they both enjoyed was the 9 p.m. show every Friday with their mother. “We used to stay in Kalkaji and right next to our house was a single screen hall called Paras Cinema. Our father (who runs a chain of restaurants called Saleems) would get done around the same time and would come to pick us up and take us for ice cream,” reminisces Saqib on the routine he and his sister for more than five years.
It was only after leaving Delhi to pursue their careers that the siblings’ bond became stronger. “Staying together in Mumbai brought us together. Now there’s no conversation that’s awkward for us,” says Saqib who at first didn’t want to live with his sister. “Initially, I was against the idea of staying with her as I wanted to enjoy my freedom but within a year, I realised the importance of coming home to family,” he concedes. The siblings are now closer than they have ever been. “We are in a profession that can be daunting at times and only my brother can understand what it is like. At the end of the day, it is important to have that support system,” says Huma.
