Mumbai: Newbie Huma Qureshi, who is all set to debut in Bollywood with Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs of Wasseypur', says one does not have to be size zero to connect with the audience.
"I think you don't have to be size zero to prove yourself...to connect with the audience. It should be like the audience should enjoy the film. And if you can provide that enjoyment with the way you are then nothing like it," Huma told PTI.
"In fact, I am paired opposite someone who is very tiny, Nawaz is a little short and tiny...he is size zero," she said. "In school I was always a fat girl. No matter how thin you are but girls always have this thing in mind that I am a little fat," Huma quipped.
But she says, these days filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap have a different thinking and are not obsessed with weight issues.
"I remember during an ad shoot Anurag said to me that you are doing my film, and I was wondering do we really get films so easily. I thought you have to struggle and all. But he kept his word and offered me 'Gangs of Wasseypur'. All this is like a boon," the actor said.
"When the film began, one thing that I noticed about Anurag is that he is one such a filmmaker who is not obsessed about weight. He is like ok with two to three kgs here and there.
"People like him are more concerned about whether you can perform, your eye expression, body language and with all that can you convince and move the audience. I think that is far more important than having a 28 or 26 inch size," she said.
Herself tall and a bit plump, Huma would be seen opposite a comparatively thin and short Nawazuddin Siddiqui in 'Gangs of Wasseypur'. "Initially I was like how come we both are paired. But it is a great thing to cast both of us together. Once you see the chemistry you will get attached to our characters because these are very real characters and it happens," she said.
Incidentally, Kareena Kapoor hit the headlines when she lost several kilos to acquire a bikini body for 2007 film 'Tashan'. Though the film failed to garner a good response at the box office, Kareena's thin frame became the talk of the town, sparking off the size zero trend in India.
"For a character, if the director wants me to look in a particular way I would do so. I think it is not about gaining or losing weight, if it is required for a character then why not. As an actor you will have to learn to modify that," Huma said.
On if she would herself don a bikini for a movie, she said, "As of now no one has offered me to wear a bikini or a steamy scene and I don't want to say yes or no as these things are very subjective.
"If you have trust in the director and the team, that they will shoot you well...may be then...but again like I said, I don't know what to answer at this moment. I think I would be in a better position to answer this question when I get such an offer," she said.
