WATCH | Deliciously EXCLUSIVE interview of Huma Qureshi on Tarla

Food is an important part of everybody’s life. Some people live to eat, while some people eat to live. Huma Qureshi was brought up in a family of food lovers. Her dad owns Saleems in Delhi which is known for its non-vegetarian food. After watching the Tarla trailer, he too got inspired by Tarla’s signature dish, Batata (potato) Mussalam and started that in his restaurant.  Edited excerpts from the Interview:  What was the preparation for the role for Tarla like?  Intense, yet fun. In fact, it was great fun working with Piyush Gupta. This is his first film as a director. But he has tremendous work behind him as a writer in Chhichhore, Dangal. I was very excited to work with Nitish Tiwari and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari, whose work I deeply admire. So, I knew this was going to be real, authentic and I wanted to explore that as and not just do a surface level kind of a performance. I loved the whole process, whether it was changing my face with the help of those dentures, wearing glasses, the walk, the gestures, working in the kitchen and actually looking like a kitchen that you owned. Yes, it did take a lot of time using those small building boxes to look and be like Tarla Dalal . What was the responsibility of playing a real life character? Definitely there was a lot of responsibility because here you are portraying a living, breathing person.  A person who has a huge legacy and who has been an impact player. And going back to a time when it was not cool to be a woman who goes out, cuts her hair and puts career as priority. We have grown up watching films of career oriented women and they have always been shown in a poor light – the mother who goes out to work and does not care for her kids. We are used to seeing toxic representation of men, women, and gender roles in cinema. Here was a time in _Tarla_ when real India was changing. In reality women were stepping out and trying to be home-grown chefs and entrepreneurs. Why I feel the Tarla Dalal story is important because even today these ideas and notions in society when marriage is given more importance over career exist. Men are asked what kind of man you are when he is a house husband. These are genuine concerns even today. But in those days to be a woman and break into his space to be on the cover of a magazine, to have her own cookbook, to have her own show and to have a male person assisting her in the kitchen, it was like she was totally smashing patriarchy. And she did it with grace in a wholesome, loving way.

Your fond childhood memories on food… Lots actually. First, I went to my dad’s restaurant, Saleems for meals. We used to go for picnics to India Gate. That was a really fond memory for me. Also in Delhi there are so many places you can go from Bengali Market to Pandara Road to Mulchand. I love the momos of Delhi and I remember as kids we used to get momos for Rs 15. Now, I should become a food blogger and have my own food channel. But you know what there is more money in acting (laughs). Bombay food vs Delhi Food Delhi food. Bombay life vs Delhi life… Bombay life. I love Bombay. Though, I was born in Delhi and love Delhi food, weather and most importantly my parents live here. But I have to live in Bombay because now that is my home. There is a new recipe that your father has started in his restaurant. Tell us about that. Yes, after watching the trailer, he is inspired by Tarla Dalal’s cooking. He saw the trailer and the recipe of Batata (potatoes) musallam, he found it to be really interesting. Tarla stood for everything that Saleems, my father’s restaurant, didn’t stand for. She made Murgh Musalam by taking out the murg (chicken) and adding potatoes to it. My dad too did the same, he took out the murg (chicken) from the musallam and made it batata (potatoes) musallam. When my dad saw this, she was simply thrilled with the thought. He got inspired and started making this for his vegetarian patrons.