Huma Qureshi to do an item number in Trishna

B-town’s latest flavour-of-the-season, Delhi-girl Huma Qureshi says that she will soon be seen shimmying to a peppy item number, Maintenance, in filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna. And contrary to reports, Huma says that the director was not averse to the idea of an item number in the film.
The buzz is that the song was added as a promotional tool to make the film more appealing to Indian audiences.And Michael wanted it to be really hot, so much so, that he asked for a bolder outfit for Huma. “Michael wanted to showcase Bollywood through item numbers. He even suggested that the outfit should be bold,” says Huma, who was in Bangalore recently.
The song is picturized on Huma shooting the number Maintenance in harem pants, while Freida Pinto, who’s playing a junior artist walks in on the sets. “My character is a top actor, who is captured on camera shooting the song, getting her makeup done and being taken through the steps by choreographer Ganesh Acharya, when Freida walks in, and I have this expression on my face, wondering why she is there. So, basically, Michael has filmed an item number being shot on the sets,” she explains.
Huma is all praise for her co-star Freida, but it was her meeting with British actor Riz Ahmed that landed her the part for the cameo. “Riz is a good friend of mine and he called me up when he was in Mumbai. We were just hanging out with producer Guneet Monga when Amit (Trivedi) called Guneet,” she says, adding, “Amit wanted us to hear the song and we all went to the studio. It was there that Guneet asked me if I’d be interested doing the number and I agreed. In fact, Anurag Kashyap was in London then and he called me to confirm and I was like ‘Yes I will do it’.”
How was it working with Freida? “Well, Freida is a lovely girl and I am really happy with what she has achieved, and I respect her a lot,” says Huma.