I first got into Indian movies when I saw "Bride & Prejudice". Then I asked a friend of mine, who is Indian, about Aishwarya Rai. She looked a bit annoyed and said, "You know, she’s not one of our best actresses and she isn’t the most beautiful?"
I was like, "Really? I mean how can you say that Aishwarya isn’t the most beautiful?"Then she said you should check out other movies of other actresses like Madhuri, Rani, Kajol and Tabu. I continued to watch just Aishwarya movies until one day, I was at Blockbuster and saw "The Namesake" on the shelf. I recognized Kal Penn and loved him in comedy. So I took the movie home with me and watched it. From that moment, I became a Tabu fan. You simply cannot help but notice her.
Her beauty is beyond skin deep. When you look at her, there’s more to her than her beautiful face. She is simply and naturally stunning. Tabu is one of those rare actresses that leaves you stunned when you leave the theatre after watching her movie. You will always remember her. I have never seen an actress who could convey so much emotions just with her eyes without saying a single word. I have never been more moved to tears just by seeing her, standing there with tears running down her face than in the movie "Hu Tu Tu" and she didn’t even say a word.
She simply took Sunil’s hand, then looked at him, and those eyes conveyed so much. I was simply in shock when the movie ended and crying my eyes out. In Maqbool, you cannot help but hate her but also be mesmerized by her. She was cunning, manipulative, vulnerable, and neurotic. I could never forget the very last scene with her and Irrfan Khan, when she was dying.
When she asked him over and over again, "Our love was pure wasn’t it?" The desperation in her voice and in her eyes, it was so painful to see. In the end, you can’t help but sympathize with her despite what she had done. In Virasat, she showed her knack for comedy. She was so naturally funny and adorable. When she did the song "Payali chunmun, chunmun" for Pooja’s character, those eyes and the smile, just captures you. You fall in love with her character "Ghena." Her desperately trying to speak english was just hilarious. Who could forget "Lispick?"
In the movie "The Namesake", she played a young, inncoent bride to a confident 50-something widow with such ease that you truly believed that she was the mother of Kal Penn. You never once felt that Tabu is acting and that’s the magic about her. In every role that she plays, you believe that she was Nina Verma in "Chenni Kum", Aditi in "Astitva, Mumtaz in "Chandni Bar", the three characters in Meenaxi" The Tale of Three Cities, Nimmi in Maqbool, Sowmya in "Kandukondain, Kandulondain, Veeran in Maachis and so on and so on.
Another amazing thing about Tabu is her abiltiy to act naturally in drama as well as in comedy. That’s very hard to do. Most actrsses have a hard time switching from the two genre but with Tabu, she’s a natural in comedy. There’s very little effort. She’s just naturally funny. And this was so evident in "Cheeni Kum."
Tabu remains a mystery. It’s frustrating at times for her fans like me that she doesn’t do more movies but it’s also admirable because you realized that she’s not doing movies for paycheck. She’s also one of the very, very few actresses who remains true to her craft by acting in art-house/low-budget movies and regional movies. She’s also one of those actresses who believe that there’s no small role for an actor. She has no qualms about doing cameo appearances or playing a supporting or a second lead.
She’s that confident about herself. She truly knows who she is. She never forgets where she came from. She’s always said that her needs are simple and that fame and attention and material things (expensive things) make her uncomfortable. She’s easily moved by her surrounding. Gulzar said she’s a very sensitive actress and simply brilliant. Mira Nair has called her the Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett of Indian Cinema for her chameleon-like ability in her roles, Big AB, who for years have made known his desire to work with her, said, "To say that Tabu is a talented and good actor would be a cliche.
Everyone knows that she is a beautiful and talented actor. The aspect of Tabu I like most is that whatever she does in front of the camera as if its straight from the heart. When Tabu is in front of you, you can’t predict what’ll happen next." He said that she left him open-mouthed in awe of their scenes in "Cheeni Kum" forgetting that he’s in the same frame with her.
Tabu has won two National Awards, Indian Cinema’s equivalent to The Academy Awards. She won for Maachis and Chandni Bar. It may be the fan in me, but I feel that she should have won for "Hu Tu Tu", "Astitva" and especially Maqbool. Watch Maqbool and you will know what I mean. It’s the most complex character I have watched. You can’t quite put your finger on her character. And she played this to a perfection. Who can forget her speech in "Astitva?" Addressing what exactly is the difference between a man and a woman’s desires and what is the role of a woman in society. It was truly amazing to watch her in this film. And in Hu Tu Tu, the tomboyish, tough and yet vulnerable lost soul. Watch the very last scene and you will know why she’s called the "younger Shabana Azmi." Unlike most stars who expects to win awards, Tabu is always surprised to receive awards. She said that she never felt undervalued by the industry, and that awards for her are bonuses.
What I like most about Tabu is that she’s a true artiste. She does what is required of her to do. She’s never afraid to tackle roles for fear of what the public’s view of her. She knows that the audience is intelligent and that she’s just acting. She has done roles that many actresses turned down because they didn’t wanna play a mother because it would mean the end of their career. They didn’t want to play an adultress, they didn’t want to not wear make up and age in the movies. Tabu knows that people should judge her acting and not her looks. She has numerous times have acted in films with no make up on. And I love that. She’s never afraid to be seen in public sans make up. She prefers not wearing make up. To me, It’s the confidence, simplicity and naturalness, that makes her above par to her contemporaries and the newcomers. She takes people’s admiration in stride and never lets it get to her head. And she keeps her feet firmly on the ground. And she never forgets those who have helped her along the way and stays loyal to them. Last but not the least, with Tabu, you never see superficiality. What you see is what you get. You never get a feeling that she’s putting on an act. She’ll tell you what she feels but stays diplomatic.And she makes no qualms about not having many friends in the industry and yet she remains respected by her peers and directors and fans.