Why Tabu is the Meryl Streep of Indian cinema – from Andhadhun to Jai Ho, Bharat and Life of Pi, 5 ways the Bollywood actress never stays still
From appearing in Vijaypath’s 1994 hit song Ruk Ruk Ruk to playing courtesan Saeeda Bai in the BBC’s new adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel A Suitable Boy, 49-year-old Tabu has eschewed Bollywood conventions to carve out a laudable career, strafing from independent productions to mainstream movies
Bollywood actress Tabu has starred in more than 90 films and enjoyed a long, seamless career – without the need to pause or to make a comeback, like so many of her peers. From appearing in Vijaypath’s hit song Ruk Ruk Ruk in 1994 to playing courtesan Saeeda Bai in BBC’s new adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel A Suitable Boy, now 49-year-old Tabu has a laudable resume – one that no other Indian actresses has come close to achieving.
So how did she carve out her decades-long career in the male-dominated Bollywood industry, and why does she deserve to be known as India’s very own Meryl Streep?
The things that I was attempting, the things which were considered risky and blasphemous are now the norm
She rebranded herself as an indie actress
Tabu, a mononym from Tabassum, enjoyed numerous hits in the 90s, but her career peaked after Mahesh Manjrekar’s Astitva (2000), playing the wife having an extramarital affair.
She then upped the ante as Mumtaz the bar girl in Chandni Bar (2001). The two films bestowed her prestigious accolades and rebranded her as the original indie actress, a cut above the everyday. She then delivered polar-opposite roles in Filhaal (2002) and Maqbool (2003) that further honed her acting versatility.
She loves risky roles
While other Bollywood starlets stick to their song-and-dance routines, the Hyderabad-born breaks away from those cookie-cutter roles and signs on to play complex and multilayered women.