Indian actress
Tabu appears primarily in
Hindi,
Telugu, and
Tamil films. Her first credited role came as a teenager in
Dev Anand's
Hum Naujawan (1985), and her first major role was in the Telugu film
Coolie No. 1 (1991). In 1994, Tabu received the
Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the Hindi action drama
Vijaypath, which marked her first of many collaborations with co-star
Ajay Devgn. The year 1996 was key for Tabu. Her performance as a young woman affected by the
Punjab insurgency in
Gulzar's
Maachis proved to be a breakthrough, winning her the
National Film Award for Best Actress. Also that year, Tabu won the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for the romance
Ninne Pelladata, and featured alongside
Govinda in the comedy film
Saajan Chale Sasural.
Tabu had a brief role in the war film Border, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1997, and portrayed a village girl opposite Anil Kapoor in the Priyadarshan-directed drama Virasat. Among her 1999 releases were two of the top-grossing Bollywood films of the year—the comedy Biwi No.1, and the family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain. She also starred as the rebellious daughter of a corrupt politician in Gulzar's critically praised drama Hu Tu Tu (1999). The following year, she starred in Kandukondain Kandukondain, a Tamil adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and played a submissive homemaker in the bilingual drama Astitva. Tabu garnered a second National Film Award for Best Actress for portraying a bar dancer in Madhur Bhandarkar's crime drama Chandni Bar (2001). In 2003, she starred in the Bengali film Abar Aranye, and portrayed a character based on Lady Macbeth, in Maqbool—an adaptation of Macbeth from Vishal Bhardwaj. Following a few commercial failures, Tabu played triple roles in M. F. Husain's musical drama Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities. Tabu's first international project came with Mira Nair's adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake. In R. Balki's Cheeni Kum (2007), Tabu starred alongside Amitabh Bachchan as a woman romantically involved with a much older man; the role earned her a record fourth Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.
Following a brief role in Ang Lee's adventure film Life of Pi (2012), Tabu starred alongside Salman Khan in Jai Ho, and garnered critical acclaim for playing the Gertrude character in Bhardwaj's Haider. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter. Tabu's career continued to expand with starring roles opposite Devgn in the thriller Drishyam (2015), the horror comedy Golmaal Again (2017), and the romantic comedy De De Pyaar De (2019). She gained acclaim for playing a murderess in Andhadhun (2018), which ranks as one of the highest-grossing Indian films. In 2020, she featured in the top-grossing Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu, and starred in the British miniseries A Suitable Boy. Further commercial successes came in 2022 with the sequels Drishyam 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. The latter won her another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.
Films
Key
| †
|
Denotes films that have not yet been released
|
Television
List of television credits
| Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Language
|
Notes
|
Ref.
|
| 2019
|
Thriller Factory
|
Divya (voice)
|
Hindi
|
Audio series
|
|
| 2020
|
A Suitable Boy
|
Saaeda Bai
|
English
|
Miniseries
|
|
| 2024
|
Dune: Prophecy
|
Sister Francesca
|
English
|
TV series
|
|
See also
- ^ Tabu had previously won the award for Virasat, Hu Tu Tu and Astitva.
- ^ Tabu played dual roles in the film.
- ^ Bilingual film.
- ^ Tabu played triple roles in the film, two of whom were named Meenaxi.
- ^ The film was also made in Tamil; however, all of her scenes were dubbed from Hindi.
- ^ Tabu played a single character with two or more names.