Gurinder Chadha pushed Huma to excel

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KOLKATA

Actress Huma Qureshi, who stars in Gurinder Chadha’s “Partition: 1947”, says the filmmaker pushed her to excel.

“She (Gurinder) is a very strong personality. I like working with such people. They push you to your limit. They push you to excel… To do better,” Huma said here on Wednesday.

The film, which released as “Viceroy’s House” outside India earlier this year and tells the story of India’s Partition, also stars Manish Dayal, late Om Puri, Denzil Smith, Huge Bonneville and Gillian Anderson, among others.

Recounting one instance during dubbing, Huma said the fun part of the creative process lay in the give-and-take relationship between the actor and director.

“When we were dubbing for the film, I wanted to pronounce ‘Gandhi’ the way British pronounce it, but she said ‘absolutely not’. She said that my character Aalia will say Gandhiji and say it the way it has to be said,” she recalled.

“That’s the give-and-take between a director and an actor… That’s the fun of the creative process,” she said.

“I have only grown as an actor while working with great directors.”

The “Gangs of Wasseypur” actress said she was drawn to the script and the fact that Gurinder had a unique perspective about the narrative.

“It’s a very different way of looking at our history. She has a unique perspective about it because she is a British Punjabi filmmaker and a woman,” she said.

Is there more in the offing in terms of international projects?

“I have never gone chasing the West or Hollywood. I have always chased creativity and good scripts. So whether it’s Bangla or L.A. — if it’s good, then I will go for it,” she quipped.

The film is slated for release in India on August 18.