Happy Birthday Tabu

Today marks the birthday of one of the most versatile and most awarded female actresses that the Indian film industry has witnessed in the recent decades, Tabu.

Following in the footsteps of her elder sister Farah Naaz with a few non-conspicuous roles in Hindi movies in the 80s, Tabu made her debut as a heroine in the Telugu film Coolie No. 1 (1991). She had to wait a few more years until she hit the jackpot with the Ajay Devgn starrer Vijaypath (1994). Though the songs and the movie itself became a huge hit with the masses, Tabu failed to find a strong footing in Bollywood and struggled to be a part of another successful film.

The elusive success finally graced her a couple of years later, with releases such as Sajan Chale Sasural (1996) and Maachis (1996), with the latter even fetching her widespread critical acclaim. The same year marked her return to South Indian movies where similar appreciation awaited her. Towards the turn of the millennium, Tabu took up roles in purely commercial movies such as Biwi No.1 (1999), Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999) and Hera Pheri (2000), as well as completely off-beat films such as Astitva (2000).

After the accolades that she achieved with her performance in Chandni Bar (2001) and Maqbool (2003), roles in Bollywood were not as noteworthy as earlier until the sleeper hit Cheeni Kum (2007). With her repertoire now including powerful roles in Haider (2014) and Drishyam (2015), Hindi movies have certainly not run out of roles that can do justice to her calibre.

Tabu, along with the long body of work that she acquired in Indian languages, also spread her acting career into Hollywood, with roles in Mira Nair's Namesake (2006) and Ang Lee's Life of Pi (2012). The much sought after actress is one of a few artistes to have won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice - for Maachis (1996) and for Chandni Bar (2001), along with a record four Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.