Huma Qureshi has been a part of the entertainment industry for more than a decade but it is the first time she is playing a real-life person on screen. In the forthcoming biopic Tarla, which is going to release on July 7 on Zee5, Qureshi plays celebrity home chef and food writer Tarla Dalal, who passed away in 2013. The Badlapur actor shares her experience of transforming into the Padma Shri-awardee on screen and submitting to the demands of the character. Edited excerpts:
Most Hindi biopics are either on politicians, sports personalities or freedom fighters. What was your reaction on being offered a biopic on a chef and what connected with you about Tarla Dalal’s journey?
First of all, I am really interested and excited about playing real, living breathing three-dimensional women. I feel that is what I am most inspired to do as opposed to two-dimensional, cardboard cutout characters who are just playing accessories to the hero’s journey. I did not know that much about Tarla ji’s personal story or journey. Of course, I knew her through her cookbooks because my mom had her cookbook and would refer to them for her recipes. The fact that she was an entrepreneur at a time when it was early days of women actually stepping out of their homes, working and creating a space for themselves connected with me. Today we see far more women in the workforce, but even in the world of hospitality, most chefs are men. Most women across the world make three meals every day for their entire families but when it comes to it being a paid or professional activity, it is the men again who rule the roost.
So, first, there was a personal curiosity, and also because my dad comes from the hospitality world and I thought, at least, dad will be very happy and proud of me for doing this film. It is an incredible story. Tarla ji stands for this soft, sweet but very firm feminism which really paved the way for us women to be working today. She carved a career for herself when it was not so prevalent for women to be seen out there. She was the first home chef to be catapulted into the scene; she wrote her cookbooks and had her own show. She was a Padma Shri awardee — the only woman chef to be given that honour and her story is still very relevant.
Is it more challenging to play a real-life person as compared to a fictional character, because you cannot take as many liberties with your imagination?
It is restrictive. It is terribly scary because you are also trying to portray a very important person who is loved. Mimicking is not the way to go in a biopic because the idea is not to imitate but to recreate their essence. Having said that, I feel Tarla ji is such a huge icon as far as this industry is concerned and I had never attempted a Gujarati character before. I did not want to do a caricature of her memory. I wanted it to be more authentic and in sync with what she stood for. I am glad that Piyush (Gupta, the director) is such a sensitive director and the way he directed me was so nuanced. We were always very careful of not doing less but not more either. We got someone on board to help me with my accent and she made a glossary of terms for Tarla Dalal and how she spoke. There are some words she pronounced a certain way. So, I tried to not do a caricature but tried to imbibe the essence of Tarla Dalal, what she stood for, her dreams and aspirations and how she went about achieving them.
You mentioned that your mother had her cookbooks. What do you remember of them?
I remember her cookbooks. When they showed me a picture of me on the cover, I was so happy and it was such an honour. I was taken back to the time when I was a little girl and I saw Tarla ji wearing that maroon colour sari on the cover of her cookbook. It was quite a surreal moment for me.
You underwent a physical transformation for this role, as you had earlier for Rani Bharti in Maharani (2021). Is that an enjoyable process for you to transform yourself into another persona?
Yes, it is very important for me. I want to be another person every single time I face the camera. I want to challenge myself and play a character I have never played before. I find that very enjoyable and gratifying as an artist. I feel if I have to look the same every single time, I’ll be bored. I am constantly looking to reinvent my look and my performance.
Mohsina in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Rani Bharti in Maharani or Monica in Monica, O My Darling (2022), all these characters have left a strong impact on viewers. What do you do to get into the mind space of these characters?
It is difficult to explain. The idea is to read the script and follow it; to extract what it is that we are trying to say and just try and be as honest and authentic as possible. For instance, in the case of Tarla Dalal — she parts her hair differently from mine. As a person, when you do something even small like that, it doesn’t sit well. If you are a right-handed person and you try to write with your left hand, it won’t sit well with your body. But that is my job as an actor. If I am playing a character who is left-handed, then I have to do that. If Tarla ji takes her hair parting a certain way, then it does not matter what Huma thinks. I have to submit to it. It is a very small example of what it is to be in the mind space of a character. But all these things get accumulated over time to build a character.
After more than 10 years in the industry and working in Hindi cinema, Web shows, regional films and turning producing with Double XL (2022), what is the game plan for the next 10 years?
There is no game plan. The plan is to have no plan. The secret is that you have to wake up every day and go to work and everything will unravel on its own. You just have to do your best and try to tell stories that resonate with you. That is what I am doing.
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