Flashback Friday: What is a museum? A place where things of different importance are collected. After listening to the questions and answers, did you not understand what was being talked about? And why was there a need to include the museum in the intro of the story? Actually, we are going to talk about Tabu further and it would be unfair to call Tabu only an actress. Therefore, we have used this special word museum for Tabu. Tabu is someone who has worked in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English, Marathi and Bengali films.
We are not calling him a museum just because he worked in films of different languages. Other actors and actresses have also done that. Muse because she is the only actress who has tasted success in both mainstream and offbeat cinema. Not only tasted it, but also ate it with great taste.
It’s not a coincidence that Tabu became a person through hard work.
Tabu did not want to come into films and had not even thought of doing so. It was just a coincidence. He said this in an interview given to The Telegraph. Tabu started with a small role in the film ‘Bazaar’ (1982). After this, after appearing in Devanand’s film ‘Hum Naujawan’ in 1984, Tabu appeared in the Telugu film ‘Coolie No. 1’ in 1991. Tabu got her first success with 1994’s ‘Vijaypath’ with Ajay Devgan. Now Tabu had completely become a big face of the mainstream.
Tabu was no longer bound to mainstream cinema only.
After Vijaypath, Tabu did films like ‘Jeet’, ‘Saajan Chale Sasural’, ‘Border’, ‘Biwi No. 1’ and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ which have always had a large audience. That is, mainstream cinema, but at the same time he did not refrain from experimenting. He also tried his hand in offbeat films, like ‘Maachis’ in 1996, ‘Virasat’ in 1997 and ‘Chachi 420’ in 1998. These were the films in which Tabu’s acting skills came to the fore. Her method acting was seen in ‘Chandni Bar’ released in 2001.
Taking risks seems to be Tabu’s job.
Tabu did a film ‘Astitva’ in the year 2000. This film came in an era when it could be difficult for an actress to agree to such a role. In this film, she was seen in the role of a sexually frustrated wife, who was not averse to ‘infidelity’ to fulfill her desires. His character in the film does not even apologize for his actions, rather he asks the question why the rules of marriage are different for men and women. He asks why happiness is only a duty for a man and only duty for a woman. She questions about a happy marriage. When Tabu did this film, it was believed that she might lose her identity as a mainstream actor. But the opposite happened, the number of people correctly identifying him started increasing. And she kept giving hit films one after the other.
Tabu is the only actress who could say yes to a film like ‘Cheeni Kum’. In the film, she lives with a boyfriend twice her age. Although this film released in 2007 did not get the title of hit, but this film definitely shows his ability to take risks.
Tabu’s vast scope of acting has no limits.
If you have seen the 2004 film ‘Maqbool’, you will see the subtlety of his acting. Tabu’s taunting character of Nimmi with her innocent and charming face was so scary. Her expressions and her dialogue delivery were such that in the film, she looked no less than ‘Lady Irfan’ in front of a seasoned actor like Irrfan Khan.
The matter does not end here, in films like Fitoor, Haider, Andhadhun, A Suitable Boy Drishyam, he played only such characters which had their own status. Meanwhile, she was also seen in a different form in comedy films like Heri Pheri, Golmaal Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. For what he did in the English film Namesake, its director Mira Nair had said about him, ‘‘Tabu is the Meryl Streep of India. She is an independent thinker and a great actress who is not worried about whether she looks glamorous or not.
Who else read Tabu’s ballads?
Whatever not only Mira Nair but also big personalities like Meghna Gulzar and Irrfan Khan have said about Tabu is simply amazing. Meghna Gulzar had said, “Any character that requires depth and layers to be shown in the performance, only one name comes to mind that only Tabu can do it.”
When Tabu did not get the National Award for Haider, Irrfan Khan expressed his sadness and said that They are surprised why Tabu did not get this award. Her acting in this was such that no actress in Hindi cinema has done it till date. He should have received this award because he has added new elements and new dimensions to acting.
Similarly, ‘Life of Pi’ director Ang Lee called him ‘World Cinema Fund‘No has been said. In an article published in The New York Times it was even said that The name of the film ‘Haider’ should have been named ‘Ghazala’ after Tabu’s character Ghazala, not Haider.
Tabu’s biggest achievement is that while her contemporary actresses were limited to one type of cinema, Tabu came one step ahead of those old offbeat cinema actresses and made her mark among the audience of both types of cinema. While the actors of offbeat cinema yearn for the audience and the actors of mainstream cinema crave for offbeat cinema, Tabu fits in both the places. And even today she is doing her own kind of roles like Amitabh Bachchan.