Zahhak aims to give Indians a real fright

The brother-and-sister stars of the upcoming movie Zahhak hope to breathe life into the genre in India.

Huma Qureshi who stars in Zahhak.

Indian cinema is not known for producing great horror films. That is something brother-and-sister actors Huma Qureshi and Saqib Saleem are looking to change with their upcoming film Zahhak.

Directed by Prawaal Raman, the film is a remake of the 2013 American breakout hit Oculus, about a pair of siblings who come to believe that a haunted antique mirror was responsible for the deaths of their parents.

The National spoke to the stars about the movie – which is due for release early next year – as filming in London drew to a close last week.

“They approached us and I thought it was a cool idea,” says Qureshi, who at 27 is 18 months older than Saleem.

“I told the producers that they would have to ask Saqib if he wanted to be in it. A lot of people have tried to cast us together before, but something exciting has not come around – this was the first opportunity.

“I didn’t want to talk to Saqib directly because he is independent and makes his own mind up and I didn’t want to influence his decision.”

Fortunately, Saleem did not take much persuading.

“I don’t know when my sister read it,” he says of the script. “I read it in four hours. When I’m interested in a project, I don’t want anyone else to do it. I had a few reservations, which the director took on board, and then I knew I wanted to do it.”

The pair’s experiences of the original film were very different.

"I just saw Oculus once," says Qureshi. "A lot of people would probably see the film again and again. I watched it once to see how the story went and then forgot about it, and that is what the director asked me to do."

Saleem, on the other hand, saw the film several times when it was released in India.

“I was mind-blown,” he says. “It’s not in-your-face horror, it’s psychological horror – it plays with your mind and makes you wonder what is real. It plays with your illusions rather than it just being a ghost trying to scare you.

“Then I watched if from an actor’s point of view. I wanted to play him slightly different to how Brenton Thwaites played him. I’ve consciously tried not to do what he did in the original – it’s a difficult job but that is what we are paid to do as actors.”

When working together, being siblings has advantages and disadvantages, they say.

“We were both trying not to steal scenes, but to bring our A-game,” says Qureshi.

“The good thing and the bad thing is that we are siblings,” says Saleem.“Sometimes the lines got blurred between professional and personal but it’s really important for us to push each other and give healthy advice.”

Saleem says he hopes the film will be a game-changer, convincing Indian cinemagoers to believe in the value of horror movies again.

“Unfortunately, in India we have some really badly made films with fake blood, teeth and bad prosthetics,” says Qureshi. “This is an attempt to make something that has scope for good performances and which is – I hate the word – intelligent. We want to make a cool supernatural thriller.”

So what makes it so cool?

“Because I’m in it,” she shoots back, not missing a beat. “There’s the Qureshi confidence.”

The siblings are the children of successful restaurant owners in India who have eight venues. While the rest of the family works in that business, Qureshi says she always knew that she wanted to be an actor.

After persuading her parents that it was the right profession, and attending several acting workshops, she made an impressive debut as love interest Mohsina in Anurag Kashyap's mafia drama Gangs of Wasseypur, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

“It was fun to have French women recognise me on the Croisette,” she says.

Saleem originally wanted to be a cricketer, playing professionally in Delhi. He switched to acting when he realised he was never going to be good enough to be the wicket keeper for the national side.

He starred in Mere Dad Ki Marutti in 2013, a remake of the Hollywood comedy Dude, Where's My Car?.

Now that principal photography on Zahhak has wrapped, he is about to start work on a sequel to the Punjabi hit.

Qureshi, meanwhile, used her spare time in London to bag one of the year's most coveted roles. She will star in Gurinder Chadha's partition drama Viceroy's House.

Set in the house of Lord Mountbatten in 1947, it also stars Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville and X-Files star Gillian Anderson.

“I auditioned for the film in India,” says Qureshi. “Then when I was in London I met Chadha and one week later she called me to say I had got the part. As soon as I get back to India, I have to start.”