Bound by blood
The brother-sister duo, Saqib Saleem and Huma Qureshi, will make their first onscreen appearance together in the adaptation of Mike Flanagan’s American horror film, Oculus. Directed by Prawal Raman, the untitled, Indianised version will start off with two child actors and then, 15 years later, the desi Kaylie and Tim Russel will grow up to be Huma and Saqib and like the original, the past and present will together run simultaneously as the story unfolds.
Saqib admits that it’s a tricky role and has signed up for an intensive 15-day workshop in Delhi to prep up. His character was arrested and sent to a juvenile home at the age of 10 after he shot his father dead at point-blank range. “To understand him better, I spent time in a juvenile home in Delhi and learnt about these desperately lonely children who face abuse there,” says the 26-yearold actor who will leave for London with Huma in June for the first schedule. Quiz him on his growing up days and he admits that the siblings hated each other.
“Huma would pull my hair and I would beat her up after which she’d go screaming to dad. Now, she’s my 4 am bestie and we can’t live without each other,” he says emotionally, adding that when she was doing theatre in Delhi and he used to pick her from workshops, he’d tease her about making weird faces. “Now when I’m doing the same, I understand how important workshops are.”
Interestingly, the siblings both come from an orthodox Muslim family. Their dad is a Dilip Kumar fan and the only film he’s loved is Mughal-e-Azam. “My mom is the most filmy person I’ve known but growing up, our dining table conversations never revolved around films,” says Saqib.
That’s changed now. Their father, Saleem Qureshi, will open ‘Saleem’s from Delhi’, a new restaurant in Dubai on April 8, his son’s 27th birthday. And what are Saqib’s plans after the horror film? “I’m going to beg Anurag Kashyap to sign me for his next film. Even though people dismissed Anurag Kashyap’s No Smoking as a flop, I loved it,” he says. “I’m dying to work with Anurag. Huma’s career has spread across different genres and she’d like to do a happier film now, for a change. But the next one definitely won’t be
Saqib admits that it’s a tricky role and has signed up for an intensive 15-day workshop in Delhi to prep up. His character was arrested and sent to a juvenile home at the age of 10 after he shot his father dead at point-blank range. “To understand him better, I spent time in a juvenile home in Delhi and learnt about these desperately lonely children who face abuse there,” says the 26-yearold actor who will leave for London with Huma in June for the first schedule. Quiz him on his growing up days and he admits that the siblings hated each other.
“Huma would pull my hair and I would beat her up after which she’d go screaming to dad. Now, she’s my 4 am bestie and we can’t live without each other,” he says emotionally, adding that when she was doing theatre in Delhi and he used to pick her from workshops, he’d tease her about making weird faces. “Now when I’m doing the same, I understand how important workshops are.”
The actor, who was last seen as Randeep Hooda’s lover in Karan Johar’s short film in Bombay Talkies, agrees that it’ll be difficult going back to fighting with his sister, this time for reel, since, they now love each other like crazy. “But in this film I have to hate her because while my character has spent his youth in prison, his sister has lived comfortably at home and even has a boyfriend now,” he reasons.
Interestingly, the siblings both come from an orthodox Muslim family. Their dad is a Dilip Kumar fan and the only film he’s loved is Mughal-e-Azam. “My mom is the most filmy person I’ve known but growing up, our dining table conversations never revolved around films,” says Saqib.
That’s changed now. Their father, Saleem Qureshi, will open ‘Saleem’s from Delhi’, a new restaurant in Dubai on April 8, his son’s 27th birthday. And what are Saqib’s plans after the horror film? “I’m going to beg Anurag Kashyap to sign me for his next film. Even though people dismissed Anurag Kashyap’s No Smoking as a flop, I loved it,” he says. “I’m dying to work with Anurag. Huma’s career has spread across different genres and she’d like to do a happier film now, for a change. But the next one definitely won’t be
