EXCLUSIVE: Huma Qureshi announces Maharani 4, comments on Bollywood’s disappointing year at the box office FilmyMeet

After a magnanimous 2023, this year proved to be a little disappointing at the box office for Bollywood. Barring Stree 2, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again’s big successes and smaller surprises with Crew, Munjya and others, most big-budgeted films failed to get the cash registers ringing. Huma Qureshi has some big releases in the pipeline which includes Toxic and Jolly LLB 3. While she is excited about them, the current box office scenario does put things in perspective.

She says, “As an industry, it’s time for us to look within and think how can we tell our stories differently. What is it that the audience is expecting from us or what are they ready for. I am doing a mix of streaming projects, big films and indie films. That’s what I like to do, place my bets everywhere.”

This year, Huma Qureshi didn’t have any theatrical release but she tasted success on OTT with Maharani 3 and recently with Mithya: The Darker Chapter. Ask her what is making OTT work more than theatres, especially this year, and she says, “OTT makes entertainment available at the tap of a button and that is a lot of power. But I feel it’s for a different kind of content. There are certain things that must be experienced on the big screen for just the way they are shot. It’s like apples and oranges, we shouldn’t even ask them to compete. Both the mediums are meant for different experiences.”

While she has her love intact for the big screen, the actor credits OTT for her “reinvention”, especially Maharani, and even makes a big announcement: “I can clearly define my career pre and post Maharani. That was the show where people really stood up and took notice of my potential. Its success made people imagine me in roles that they couldn’t before. And now, Maharani is going to have a season 4.” Huma adds, “More than me, my OTT success has given the creators more confidence in me. As artistes, you can have all the confidence in yourself, but you can’t do anything until you get an opportunity to show your potential. Actors ultimately are dependent on other people to hire them.”