Four days after Zoya Hussain watched Sirf Ek Banda did she get a call to star in Bhaiyya-Ji opposite Manoj Bajpayee. Hussain made her debut with Anurag Kashyap's Mukkabaaz and then followed it up with Laal Kaptaan opposite Saif Ali Khan. "I was very intimidated when they called for this film. I wasn't sure I could match his prowess. But when I met him, I realised he is very funny. This film is the rare time that I was on a set that was so happy. I really got a dream team to work with," she tells us. 

But in the past seven years, despite a shining performance in one of Hotstar's most-loved shows Grahan, Hussain has been branded as picky. When we sit down with her, we ask why it took so long to see her in a Bollywood film again. "It's not that I am so picky. I think because of Mukkabaaz, I got stereotyped. It was assumed I would only do these types of roles. I am not from Mumbai or industry or modelling. All my opportunities come organically. Apoorv and Manoj sir saw my film, thought I am good, and gave me a call. I have turned down some commercial films because in many of those offered to me, the female character is an accessory. There was literally nothing to do. I don't want to do such films because that's not a narrative I wish to contribute to. I am not saying stories have to be female-oriented. But why can't character driven good stories come to me. In this film, we haven't revealed my character yet. But when people watch, they will get to know why this movie was fulfilling for me. The film is set in a small town but this isn't an average subservient girl's part."