On Tabu's Birthday, Revisiting The Star's Five Best Recent Performances

Tabu has come a long way since her first credited role in the 1985 release Hum Naujawan. The actor has dabbled in various film industries and across genres to establish herself as one of the most distinct female actors of the present generation.

In her career spanning over three decades, Tabu has managed to impress audiences and critics alike with her stellar performances. From acclaimed hits and box office successes to National Awards, Tabu has done it all. While her cinematic presence as an artiste is distinct, she once self-admittedly acknowledged being an introvert as a child, even after she became a bonafide actor.

From 'Chandni Bar' to 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2,' the actor brings a unique temperament to her characters, time and again proving every one of her gifted talents.

As the star turns 52, let's revisit some of her most iconic roles.

Tabu Birthday: Actor's 5 Best Roles In Recent Times

Anjulika and Manjulika - Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

Tabu In Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (FilmiBeat)

While Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is seemingly not a sequel to its original, the film did retain a lot of the Akshay Kumar-Vidya Balan film that was released 15 years ago. The setting is still a haunted haveli in Rajasthan where the ghost of a Bengali woman, Manjulika, is trapped on the third floor waiting for an opportune moment to carry out her vendetta.

However, it was Tabu's restrained performance in a dual role that held the fort for everyone in the film. Though the film's humour bit is especially problematic in several pockets, it lends a fine case study on how badly a sibling rivalry can go if left unchecked.

Ananya - Jawaani Jaaneman

Jawaani Jaaneman follows the life of a 40-something single man (played by uber-cool Saif Ali Khan), high on life, and chaos that follows after he finds out that he has a 21-year-old daughter. Not just that she is also pregnant.

The movie is all fun when Tabu, in the brief role of Ananya, appears as a spiritually empowered hippy. This “hashish (hash), meditation, inner peace” lover and “rebirth calendar” believer is a hoot and Tabu brings the house down with her clever poker-faced turn.

Saeeda Bai- A Suitable Boy

Mira Nair's A Suitable Boy is a miniseries adaptation of Vikram Seth's eponymous novel that tells a sprawling story of four families which is set a few years after Indian Independence and the Partition. Tabu's performance as the seductive courtesan Saeeda Bai, was as always, magnetic. The actor in an interview with The Hindu opened up on taking the role and said, “I was taken in by Saeeda Bai’s character and said if Mira is directing, I’d blindly agree.”

Simi Sinha - Andhadhun

Still from Andhadhun (India Today)

Sriram Raghavan's Andhadhun follows Akash (Ayushmann Khurrana), a piano player pretending to be visually impaired, who unwittingly becomes entangled in a number of problems as he witnesses the murder of a former film actor. Tabu plays the actor's wily wife who stops at nothing to get what her heart yearns for. As good as she has ever been, Tabu delivers a delicious, despicable performance and is astounding as a woman who exudes as much charm as deadly intent.

Meera  Deshmukh - Drishyam

In Drishyam, Tabu is introduced as the police chief spitting fire at some prisoners, verbally beating the crap out of them. She turns into an emotional wreck after the disappearance of her son and threatens to ruin the perpetrator's family. From then on, she is perpetually swinging between being badass and a damsel in distress, both of which Tabu carries with strength.

Suggested Reading: 10 Things To Know About The Fabulous Actor Tabu