Huma Qureshi: Many women restarted their lives in middle age

Updated On: 30 June, 2023 07:43 AM IST | Mumbai | Priyanka Sharma

Playing Tarla Dalal in eponymous biopic, Huma says film celebrates women who chased their dreams after years of being bound by family duties

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Huma Qureshi and Tarla Dalal

To Huma Qureshi, the essence of Tarla can be perfectly captured in one line—“You can cook, but you don’t have to be confined to the kitchen”. It’s this liberating thought that stayed with the actor as she stepped into the shoes of the late Tarla Dalal, renowned chef and cookbook author. A thought that deserves its moment on the screen, because it not only celebrates women who defy ageist norms to chase their dreams, but also propels others to not lose views of their goals.

“It’s important to tell this story because this is what has happened to our mothers and grandmothers. They were pushed into getting married and having children. When their kids went to college, they suddenly realised, ‘Now, nobody needs me.’ I have seen my mom and aunts [feel this]. Some of them opened salons, others tried their hand at jewellery business,” recounts Qureshi. In chronicling Dalal’s journey from a homemaker to India’s favourite cookbook author, Piyush Gupta’s directorial venture shows how it’s never too late to pick up the reins of your life. “There is a generation of women that started their lives again in middle age. That needs to be celebrated,” she emphasises.

A still from the film