Tabu filmography

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).[1][2] In 1994, Tabu received the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the Hindi action drama Vijaypath.[3] After appearing in a series of poorly received films of 1995, the year 1996 was key for Tabu.[4] 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.[4][5] Also that year, Tabu won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for the romance Ninne Pelladata, and featured alongside Govinda in the commercially successful comedy film Saajan Chale Sasural.[6][7]

Tabu in 2020

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.[8][9] 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.[10] She also starred as the rebellious daughter of a corrupt politician in Gulzar's Hu Tu Tu (1999).[11] The film garnered positive reviews from critics but performed poorly at the box office.[12] 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.[13][14] Tabu garnered a second National Film Award for Best Actress for portraying a bar dancer in Madhur Bhandarkar's crime drama Chandni Bar (2001).[15][16] 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.[17][18] Her other releases of 2003—the erotic thriller Hawa and the action drama Jaal: The Trap—were commercial failures.[19] The following year, Tabu played triple roles in M. F. Husain's musical drama Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.[20]

Tabu's first international project came with Mira Nair's adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake.[14][21] Also that year, she played a brief role in the romantic thriller Fanaa.[14] In R. Balki's Cheeni Kum (2007), Tabu starred alongside Amitabh Bachchan as a woman romantically involved with a much older man;[15] the role earned her a record fourth Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.[lower-alpha 1][23][24] Tabu took on fewer film projects over the next few years.[25] She played a prostitute in the Telugu film Pandurangadu (2008) and appeared briefly in Ang Lee's adventure film Life of Pi (2012).[26][27] In 2014, Tabu starred alongside Salman Khan in Jai Ho, and garnered critical acclaim for playing the Gertrude character in Bhardwaj's Haider.[28][29] She won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.[30] Tabu went on to star in the ensemble horror comedy Golmaal Again, and continued to receive praise for playing a police-officer in Drishyam (2015) and a murderess in Andhadhun (2018).[31][32] The latter ranks among the highest-grossing Indian films.[33]