Introduction
Those who are interested in cooking, at some point in time, must have read or followed some recipes from the books of the famous cook Tarla Dalal who made a late entry in the game but with a bang. But not too many know the story and struggle behind that. Director Piyush Gupta tries to bring Tarla's life and behind-the-scenes story with this biopic dedicated to her. Like most biopics, is it too clichéd or is it able to strike a chord with the audience just like her recipes, let's find out…
About the Movie
The story starts with Tarla graduating from college and wanting to do something in life but is not sure what. With no clarity in mind, she is married to Nalin Dalal, who is an engineer in a factory and they are happily married, ultimately becoming parents of three children. Although Tarla is happy with her marriage and life is going on smoothly, there’s some emptiness that she could feel in terms of her aspirations as she wants to make it big in life. In her quest to find that "something," she is well supported by Nalin and her neighbouring aunty.
Initially coming to a good response for her idea of teaching cooking to young girls in her society, she faces resistance from society members for too much disturbance, so she is forced to quit. But will she stop there? She gets to know that Nalin loves non-veg food but Tarla pukes at the sight of it. One particular incident forces Tarla to think about this and she decides to try something that will change the game. Will she be able to succeed, everyone knows yes, but how, that's the interesting part. What all happens, for that you will have to watch the movie.
Direction and Screenplay
Piyush Gupta, who was associated as a writer with films like Bhootnath Returns, Chhichhore, and Dangal, tries his hands at direction with TARLA. And mind you, he doesn’t disappoint.
The problem with most biopics is that they are mostly clichéd in the fact that the person must have undergone struggles to achieve that level of success later, but how to make that engaging and entertaining in terms of execution is another task and director Piyush Gupta passes the test successfully. He holds the pulse of the audience and doesn’t make you feel bored at all in this close to 2 hours
8 min movie, thanks to the amazing screenplay and writing by him and Gautam Ved.
Performances
Huma Qureshi has already raised the bar a lot high in a variety of characters like an illiterate housewife turned politician turning against her own corrupt husband in the MAHARANI series, a serious psychology teacher in the Mithya Web series, a quirky character in Monica O my Darling and now TARLA. Tarla is just like your next-door neighbour aunty and is not much difficult but rather an interesting character and Huma, the ‘MAHARANI’ of acting, skins into the character with so much ease that you don’t feel like it's not the real Tarla ji. She is rising with every single character she is playing and with what finesse. It's because of Huma’s portrayal, the character becomes pretty interesting and you hardly get a dull moment in the movie.
Sharib Hashmi, the master of characters in multiple web series like Asur, Family Man, the recently released movie AFWAAH and whatnot, plays Nalin Dalal, Tarla’s husband and man, what a performer he is. He gets a meaty role in a film this time justifying his calibre and he utilises it to the core while standing eye to eye with Huma in virtually every frame from start to finish. Playing a man, who is ready to go to any extent to support his wife’s dreams, faltering in between due to his own aspirations, Sharib is a delight to watch as he sleepwalks as Nalin Dalal.
The third fantastic ingredient of this interesting recipe is our beloved and renowned actor Bharti Achrekar and she hasn’t changed a bit from Waghle ki Duniya. She is a treat to the eyes for whatever amount of time she is on screen, as the supporting neighbour Aunty.
Overall Verdict
Overall, TARLA is an interesting and heart-warming recipe that is garnished by superlative performances from Huma Qureshi, Sharib Hashmi and Bharti Achrekar. This recipe by Piyush Gupta deserves to be tasted and you will love it for sure.
WMR Rating : 3.5/5 (Overall 3.25 + extra 0.25 for the performances)
Review Credits: Deepak Chaudhary
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