Film Review: TARLA

Ratings: ⭐️⭐️½

The movie is streaming on ZEE5 , you can watch now!!

Brilliant is the journey and the making of Tarla and how she during those days had the vision of becoming an entrepreneur through her cooking skills.

I wasn’t easy I am sure to smash patriarchy and become the most popular home-chef for years to come.

When I heard that a movie inspired by Tarla Dalal’s life was greenlit, it unlocked a hidden memory of watching a woman on TV reciting recipes like it was second nature; a woman who cooked, tasted, and innovated her way into hundreds of households. 

She was the first woman chef to be on television and have a cooking show of her own in those days was really commendable. Tarla Dalal became a name which probably everybody knows and most importantly her cook books became accessible to all for its simplicity.

While Tarla is criticised for stepping out of her house, her husband is ridiculed for not matching the criteria patriarchy imposes on men.

When she finds her husband eating a non-vegetarian dish, she sets out to figure out a way to fit his tastes to her vegetarian cooking and sensibilities,

Word of Tarla’s vegetarian innovations spread throughout her apartment complex, and soon she’s teaching her speedy, tasty recipes to all the young women of marriageable age.

this leads to her becoming a cooking tutor which opens up similar possibilities for her.

Though the girls’ moms see the lessons as a way to boost to their daughters’ marital prospects, Tarla sees it as a means for the girls to secure themselves as much freedom and as many opportunities as they can.

All the women understand that many aspects of their lives will require their husband’s permission (it is the early 1970s, after all), and knowing how to cook demonstrates responsibility.

As a bonus, making tasty food keeps husbands and in-laws in a good mood. Tarla jokingly calls one of her dishes, “The recipe to let you wear jeans after marriage.”

Though Piyush Gupta's work is commendable, there were parts in the film which were not entertaining enough. As for the dialogues, there were some good comic punches and some emotional lines. Even the songs in the film are kept well.

Her performance is endearing and reflects the qualities that would have attracted viewers to Tarla's TV show in real life. Gupta's film about the late celebrity chef is thoughtful and thoroughly entertaining.

Qureshi and Hashmi have done a beautiful job portraying two caring people who want to see each other happy while sometimes struggle to define happiness for themselves.