Sharib Hashmi’s star has grown. The actor, who started with bit parts in movies over a decade ago, has now graduated to lead roles. In the new Zee5 release Tarla, Sharib plays Nalin Dalal opposite Huma Qureshi’s Tarla Dalal. In an exclusive chat with DNA, the actor speaks about the film, his role, and how far he has come from his humble beginnings.
Tarla is the biopic of celebrated chef and TV personality Tarla Dalal. Sharib plays Tarla’s husband Nalin Dalal in the Piyush Gupta film. Talking about his role, the actor says, “I had the liberty of interpreting the character my own way because not many knew how Nalin sir was. He wasn’t a public figure. But of course we kept the essence of his qualities and who he was for Tarla ji.”
The film has a scene where Tarla talks about how she is finding what she wants to do in her life, searching for that kuch (something) that excites her. Ask Sharib when he discovered that ‘kuch’ in his own life and the actor responds, “Around the end of 2008, I had a well-paying job in a small Bollywood channel called Imagine Showbiz, where I was the creative head. Suddenly, something struck me and I quit my job and started giving auditions. I decided I wanted to make acting my bread and butter. I don’t know why I did that but that was the best decision of my life.”
But the actor maintains that it was a difficult time becaue he had to face a lot of taunts and jibes from his closed ones. “Everyone, be it family, friends, relatives, everyone was saying ‘pagal ho gaya hai kya? Ye umar thode hi hoti hai? (Are you mad? This is not the age)’ And that too, acting, which is not stable at all. Everyone was against me except my wife an two of my friends – Kaushik Bagani, who is no more, and Nitin Kakkar, who later made Filmistaan with me.” Eventually, Sharib did make his break with Filmistaan and went on to appear in popular titles like The Family Man and Afwaah.
Tarla talks about a man supporting his wife, even sacrificing his own professional life for hers. In his personal life, Sharib had a reverse situation, where he quit his job to pursue acting and his wife had to resume work. He recalls, “When I started giving auditions, our savings began to dry up. At that time, my wife had to take up a job again. She had left after giving birth to our child. But someone had to earn. I can’t thank her enough for what she did at that time. But at that time, people – my own friends and family – started taunting me: ‘dekh teri wajah se woh naukri kar rahi hai aur tu ghar pe baitha hai (because of you she is working and you are sitting at home)’. I had to endure all this.”
Tarla, directed by Piyush Gupta, released on Zee5 on July 7.
