In March, mid-day was the first to report that Huma Qureshi was gearing up to play celebrated chef-cookbook author Tarla Dalal in a biopic (Huma finds the perfect recipe for success, March 29). Over a month on, the actor has begun shooting for the Ronnie Screwvala, Nitesh and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari production. While the script and her personal research helped her familiarize with the late home chef’s rise to success, looking the part proved to be an uphill task.

With her tall frame, Qureshi’s physicality is nothing like Dalal’s. A source reveals, “Since Dalal had top-of-mind recall value among millions of Indian women, looking the part was key. Huma did multiple look tests, with director Piyush Gupta, to finally crack the avatar that sees her sporting glasses and buck teeth. Before the film went on floors about two weeks ago, the actor would wear the dentures for long hours to make sure she was comfortable with them. She knew that the camera would capture even the slightest hint of effort or discomfort. So, she used to wear them throughout the day, and practised speaking with them on.”

As part of her prep, Qureshi also devoured hours of footage, thus picking up on the cookbook author’s accent, pitch and mannerisms.