Not a femme fatale

Huma Qureshi opens up on playing a regular looking assassin in Baby Do Die Do

Huma Qureshi, known for often challenging the conventional portrayal of the Hindi film heroine through projects such as Maharani and Gangs of Wasseypur, hopes that her new film Baby Do Die Do, a thriller about a deaf and mute assassin, leads to more such interesting roles being written for women.

The actor, who has also produced the movie, said the beauty of playing a character like Baby is that she is not outlined and easily mixes into the crowd, say a Mumbai local.

"The fact that she is so normal and regular looking and yet such a lethal killer is what makes it such an interesting tale... We just wanted to make a very relatable character. Baby is somebody you just meet in a Mumbai local and not bat an eyelid," Qureshi told PTI.

"I think there could be a lot more change when it comes to writing better parts. There's definitely a step in the right direction." Asked her opinion about the way women action stars are often portrayed as femme fatale on screen, the actor said that is a "misogynist way" of looking at such characters. "...That women have to be in these tight-fitting clothes, hyper sexualised sort of imagery to be able to be assassins. I think it is coming from patriarchy," she said.

The film, directed by Nachiket Samant, released on July 3.