Tabu is an Indian actress that appears primarily in Hindi and Telugu 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 yearthe 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 Maqboolan adaptation of Macbeth from Vishal Bhardwaj. Following a few commercial failures, Tabu played multiple roles in M. F. Husain's musical drama Meenaxi: 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 and the heist comedy Crew (2024). Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 won her another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.
Films
+ List of Tabu film creditsYearTitleRole(s)Language(s)Notes Notes 1982 Bazaar Unnamed Hindi Uncredited appearance in the song "Chale Aao Saiyan" 1985Hum Naujawan Priya 1991Coolie No. 1 Ranjani Telugu 1994Pehla Pehla Pyar SapnaHindiVijaypath Mohini / Vrushali 1995Prem Laachi / SoniaSaajan Ki Baahon Mein Kavita VermaSisindri Herself Telugu Cameo appearance Haqeeqat Sudha Singh Hindi 1996Himmat Anjali PathakKadhal Desam Divya Tamil Tu Chor Main Sipahi Kajal HindiJeet TulsibaiKaalapani Parvathi MalayalamMaachis Veerandar Hindi Saajan Chale Sasural Ninne Pelladata Mahalakshmi Telugu 1997Darmiyaan: In Between Chitra Hindi Virasat Gehna RaneBorder Yamora KaurIruvar Senthamarai TamilChachi 420 Hindi 1998Aavida Maa Aavide Archana Telugu2001: Do Hazaar Ek Billu Hindi Thayin Manikodi Anjali Hanuman Anja English French-Indian film 1999 Hu Tu Tu Parveen "Panna" HindiBiwi No.1 Lovely KhuranaKohram Hum Saath-Saath Hain Sadhna Sharma ChaturvediThakshak 2000Hera Pheri Kandukondain Kandukondain Sowmya Tamil Tarkieb HindiDil Pe Mat Le Yaar Shikari SumanAstitva HindiMarathiGhaath HindiSnegithiye ACP Gayatri Varma TamilCover Story Malayalam 2001Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya HindiChandni Bar MumtazHindiAamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiyaa Meena 2002Maa Tujhhe Salaam Filhaal... Chennakesava Reddy Devi TeluguZindagi Khoobsoorat Hai Shalu HindiSaathiya Cameo appearance 2003Abar Aranye Amrita BengaliKhanjar Shilpa HindiHawa SanjanaJaal Maqbool Nimmi 2004Main Hoon Na Aparna Cameo appearance Meenaxi: Tale of Three Cities Meenaxi / Maria Zarkova / Tanu 2005Bhagmati – The Queen of Fortunes Shivranjani / BhagmatiAndarivaadu Shanthi TeluguSilsiilay Rehana Hindi 2006Shock Gita TeluguFanaa Hindi Ashima English 2007Sarhad Paar Pammi HindiRakkilippattu ACP Gayatri Varma MalayalamCheeni Kum Hindi Om Shanti Om Herself Special appearance in the song "Deewangi Deewangi" 2008Idi Sangathi Swarajyalakshmi TeluguPandurangadu Amrutha 2010Toh Baat Pakki! HindiKhuda Kasam 2011Urumi Herself Malayalam Special appearance in the song "Aaranne Aaranne" 2012Life of Pi English 2013David FrennyHindi Simultaneously shot in Tamil under the same title (2013) 2014Jai Ho Haider Also playback singer for the song "Roshe Valle" 2015Drishyam Talvar Cameo appearance 2016Fitoor 2017Golmaal Again 2018Missing Aparna Dubey Also playback singer for the song "Soja Re"Sanju Herself Cameo appearance Andhadhun Simi Sinha 2019De De Pyaar De Manjana "Manju" Rao MehraBharat Meher / Gudiya Kumar 2020 Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo Yasoda "Yasu" TeluguJawaani Jaaneman Ananya Hindi 2022Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 Manjulika / AnjulikaDrishyam 2 2023Kuttey Poonam "Pammi" Sandhu Bholaa Diana Joseph Khufiya Krishna Mehra 2024 Crew Geeta Sethi Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha Vasudha Chaudhary 2026 Bhooth Bangla Yashoda Drishyam: The Conclusion Meera Deshmukh TBA TBA Telugu Filming
Television + List of Tabu television credits Year Title Role Language Notes 2019 Thriller Factory Divya (voice)HindiAudio series 2020 A Suitable Boy Saaeda Bai English Miniseries 2024 Dune: Prophecy Sister Francesca TV series
See also List of awards and nominations received by Tabu
Footnotes
References
External links
Tabu on Bollywood Hungama