After making Hindi film debut with a supporting role in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed two-part crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur, we've seen Huma Qureshi play plethora of roles convincingly. Look at her last few releases for context - she played a homemaker who transitions to a politician in Maharani, a plus-size woman struggling with fatshaming in Double XL and a femme fatale in Vasan Bala's neo-noir crime comedy thriller Monica, O My Darling. And now, the actor will be seen playing the queen of kitchen, the much-loved food writer, chef, cookbook author and host of cooking shows Tarla Dalal in Tarla. In this interview with indianexpress.com, Huma opens up about how her relationship with food changed after she came to Mumbai to become an actor, her changed perspective on body image, and a decade long thriving acting career in Bollywood. Tarla Dalal was not tall, and had a sweet Gujarati-Marathi accent. So how did Huma get into Tarla's character? When they offered me the film, I told them 'casting galat hai (it is wrong casting)'. I am so much taller than her, she was a Gujarati lady, I've never stayed in Gujarat or Maharashtra. I moved to Mumbai 10-11 years ago. Then I realised, after my discussions with Ashwiny (Iyer) ma'am, Nitesh (Tiwari) sir and Piyush (Gupta), our director, that the idea was not to imitate her but to capture the essence of Tarla ji. That is what we have tried to do and I hope we have been successful or at least come close to it. This is the first time I was attempting a biopic, which comes with its own set of challenges, but I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into it. You play one of India's most loved cooks. Do you enjoy cooking? I am never interested in cooking, only eating. I come from a food family as my dad has a restaurant business and my mom is an amazing cook, so I think hosting and feeding people comes very naturally to me. But whether it is my father and his cooking or Tarla ji and her cooking, I think food is such a unifying factor. It really brings people together, there is something so nice about sharing a meal with somebody. So, although I don't cook, I really enjoy sharing my food. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Huma Qureshi (@iamhumaq) Has your relationship with food changed after becoming an actor? After coming to Mumbai and becoming an actor, the relationship with food has changed. Now, it depends on what I am shooting - if I am doing Double XL then I am putting on weight; in Tarla I had to play ages 20 to 50, so for the portions where I am in my 20s, I had to really shrink and lose a lot of weight. For playing a 50-year-old woman, I had to look much bigger because with age your body changes. There is a lot of joy to see you being able to do that. When I see myself on screen, I am glad that it is coming across well, so that is the attempt. Food now is very functional in that sense, I do try and reward myself if I have had a long day or a heavy day or I have done something good. I have also weaned away from sugar and a lot of unnecessary things in my life. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Huma Qureshi (@iamhumaq) You have been vocal about reclaiming your body, about self love. Today I am in a phase in my life where I want to nourish my body and take care of my body. Also, this is my work, as an actor I will have to put on weight for a role or lose weight for a role. But I try and do it in the most mindful way possible. I try and look at food, nutrition and exercise as something that takes care of my body instead of punishment. Like I want to eat good, healthy food. I want to move my body for one hour every day - it could be exercise, gym, yoga, Pilates, dance, whatever, because it is very important for a human body to sweat it out. It is very important to take care of your mental health. These are the things I started believing in and practicing in my life. I feel, right now because of Instagram and social media, there is so much attention on the cosmetic part of looking a certain way as opposed to the intrinsic healing, nourishment, strength, ability and agility of the body - I am actually excited about that now. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Huma Qureshi (@iamhumaq) You have completed 10 years in Bollywood. It's been a long road, a long journey, it's not been an easy journey. The easy way is to stereotype somebody, to put somebody in a box and to put yourself in a box. I remember when I did Maharani I got offered three-four films and shows for ‘ek aur Bihari character’ and I'd say, ‘yeh toh maine kar liya’, now I want to try something else. But it takes a while to tell people what you are looking for. I was never in any rush. I feel like every time I step out to shoot a film, I want to look, live and breathe like another person because that's what I am excited to do as an artiste.
