Tarla
Hindi (Zee5)
Director: Piyush Gupta
Cast: Huma Qureshi, Sharib Hashmi, Purnendu Bhattacharya
Rating: 2/5
Directed by Piyush Gupta, Tarla had all the material to create a tantalising cinematic experience — a legendary cookbook writer and her inspiring journey. Yet, it falls short in delivering that mouth watering experience.
The film is based on the life and times of Tarla Dalal (portrayed by Huma Qureshi), famous for her cookbooks in the pre-Internet era. After her marriage to Nalin (portrayed by Sharib Hashmi), her dreams are buried under a load of responsibilities that includes raising children and packing lunch for him. However, she quickly realises her ability to reinvent herself, and her turnaround is portrayed in some charmingly shot scenes.
The film portrays Tarla’s transformation from an ordinary woman to an influential figure in the culinary world. It showcases her determination, perseverance, and willingness to take a career leap even though she comes from a background that does not value the hard work going into cooking and managing a household. The story definitely makes the audience ask themselves whether their reality today is any different from Tarla’s in the 1960s.
However, the story leaves the audience craving for more depth and vibrancy. As delightful as Huma Qureshi is, she fails to capture the energy and enthusiasm of Tarla’s life and personality. Tarla’s husband Nalin is portrayed as being supportive all the time. Yet, he finds fault with her dedication to work, making the dynamic offputting. For a major part of the film, Tarla is seen as irresponsible for leaving her children in her husband’s care. Even the introduction of Tarla at the start of the film is in the voice of her husband, which, regardless of his ability to take a backseat when it was rare for a man to do so, seems to tamper with the empowerment that Tarla aspires for in herself and others like her.
The moralistic view of her mother-in-law, who blames her for leaving a man in charge of the household, unwittingly bestows victimhood on Nalin.