Tabu is someone who cannot be defined. Both as a person and an actor. The statuesque actress, with a plethora of iconic and impactful roles in her filmography, has always shattered conventions, taking on parts that have consistently made the audience sit up and take notice of her. Starting off at 14, Tabu has done it all — the song ‘n’ dance Bolly heroine routine, the laugh-out-loud comedy roles, characters with grey shades and the ones who are utterly morally corrupt. Through it all, she’s made every role her own and steadily built a name as an actor who stands for meaningful cinema.
The 47-year-old stunner was recently in town for an event organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), post which The Telegraph caught up with her for a chat on what makes Tabu tick.
You’ve always been vocal about your love for Calcutta and how you look for excuses to come here…
I love the city… there’s so much to love in Calcutta. Calcutta is so much a part of my present that nothing really qualifies as a memory. Even The Namesake (2006), though we shot it here more than a decade-and-a-half ago, seems like it happened yesterday. I have some very close friends here, I even have some family here… so the city seems like a very big part of my life. Of course, Abar Aranye (2003) and The Namesake will be my strongest connection to Calcutta. My first connection was Abar Aranye and I will treasure it as one of my fondest film memories because I did my own Bangla dubbing; I think it was a huge achievement for me.
I am glad that life and my films gave me Calcutta, and the friends that I have in Calcutta. The rich culture I was introduced to, the literature I was encouraged to read and the Bangla cinema that I was made to watch. And, of course, the gondhoraj flavour that I swear by! (Laughs) Calcutta is now a part of my DNA. It’s my home, actually.
Of late, I have been getting a few film offers from Calcutta. I am just itching to do a good Bangla film. I keep telling Bumbada (Prosenjit), ‘Let’s do something together!’ I hope he will listen to me soon! (Laughs) I am looking forward to working in Bangla now… I really want to come back to my beloved Calcutta for a long time and spend time here. Hopefully during winter because I think November-December are the most beautiful months here. I love the fog in the mornings and the early sunsets that we never get to see in Bombay. Then, of course, winter in Calcutta means draping those lovely shawls and feasting on nolen gur (smiles). I never watch my diet when I am here… then it’s always fish and doi, bas. Full on!
A lot has been said about your ability to stand out with every character you play. Is unpredictability and the fact that you haven’t surrendered to the so-called Bollywood formula your greatest assets as an actor?
I think unpredictability has not only been the cornerstone of my career, but also of my life. Now when I think of it, that’s where I have thrived the most… keeping life full of surprises. But it was never conscious, never part of a plan. I never planned to be unpredictable, but nothing in my life is predictable! (Laughs) I think that’s the only way I know to live. Plans have never worked for me and I have embraced and accepted that my life is always going to be like that. I know that only when I jump into the unknown that I will reach somewhere. That’s probably what has reflected in the choice of my films and the characters that I have played. I have no idea what kind of film I will do next. It’s all very fluid.
Do you think that makes filmmakers a tad wary of approaching you?
To be honest, I think it’s the other way round. I think what has worked for me is that every kind of role, in all the genres of cinema, has come to me; every kind of filmmaker has come to me with a role. If Vishal Bhardwaj came to me with Maqbool and Haider, Rohit Shetty thought I could pull off a Golmaal (Again) and Sriram Raghavan thought I would do a good job in Andhadhun. I’ve had someone of the stature of Ang Lee tell me that he only thought of me in the mother’s role in Life of Pi. That’s quite something, isn’t it? (Smiles) It shows that no one has ever typecast me, even in their heads. I can’t be fitted into a box, no matter how hard one tries to. Not only does it say something about me as an actor, it says a lot more about the vision of all these directors.
So if you do a Golmaal Again after a Drishyam or a De De Pyaar De right after Andhadhun, it’s not with the intention of throwing a curveball at the audience?
Not at all! If what comes to me is exciting, is different from what I have done in the recent past and the director is good, then more often than not, I will do it. I think by chance it’s happened that every film I’ve done, especially in the last decade, has been so different from the previous film that it looks like I am deliberately doing it to be different. But I also have to say that mere different karne ke desire se toh mujhe roles nahi milne waale (laughs). Then I would have become a filmmaker, you know. It’s just by luck, maybe. I have been blessed with edgy characters that have never been part of the norm.
Have there never been any moments of insecurity, given you’ve really never plunged into doing multiple films at a time or positioned yourself as someone who is available to do films all the time?
We all have our own insecurities, personally and professionally. But I never faced that situation where I have been tempted to say ‘Yes’ to a film just because I was in a space of insecurity or the films that I wanted to do weren’t coming my way. Whether I am in the happiest space in my life or I am not in the best frame of mind, I know what I don’t want to do, sometimes perhaps more than what I know I want to do. I am very clear about those choices. I am always clear as to why I am doing a particular film. See, I didn’t start my career with wanting to be a heroine. I was just 14 when I did Hum Naujawan (1985). I never thought ki main marr jaaungi agar main heroine nahi ban paayi. So that’s an attitude that’s always been inherently me. Aisa mera kabhi hai nahi ki ‘kaam nahi hai toh mera kya hoga? Mujhe marte dum tak kaam karna hai!’ (Laughs) What I want from my work and what my aspirations are is a very personal thing for me.
I have always travelled the journey of my life on the basis of what I want from it, not what others’ perceptions and expectations are. Achha kaam karna hai, achhi life jeeni hai, jo achha nahi lagta hai woh nahi karna hai… it’s as simple as that. There’s no mathematics to it. I have been brought up like that by my grandparents and I apply it at every step of my life. Of course, I have made mistakes, but the thing is to take those decisions, good or bad, see how they play out and keep moving forward. Everybody works according to their value system and priorities. I have to live with myself, finally. I am not here to compete with anybody and even when I was starting out, I never wanted to be like anybody. It’s my life and my career and I like to apply my rules, my principles, my barometers and my priorities to what I do and how I live my life.
A highlight of your career has been that you never shied away from playing older roles, even at the beginning of your career. In an industry that’s largely ageist, has that never been a problem?
It’s never been a problem for me. But that’s possibly because I haven’t ever allowed it to become a problem. I have never really looked at the age of a character, her marital status or the length of a role, as long as I was sure that the role would have some sort of an impact and that I would be satisfied playing that character. Who my co-actor would be has never been of any consequence to me. Nothing else mattered then and nothing else matters now.
Everything you do on screen comes off as effortless. But is there any method to the madness?
I don’t have a method or a process. I don’t think method can be applied to the creative arts. I can’t think and follow a path to what I am going to do on set… it’s synergy, it’s a combined effort…. I am sure I have a subliminal method… woh toh mota-mota sabka hi hota hai in terms of where we want to take a character. But I feel having a set process or method takes away from the organic feel of the character one is playing. I can’t break down my characters like that.
Does being choosy also extend to your social life because we don’t really see as much of you even off set as the rest of your fraternity?
I go to all the parties I am invited to… maybe I am not invited to too many of them! (Laughs out loud) I am not at public gyms and airports, you know. I am quite conscious about not getting clicked in those places (smiles). But it’s not that I am making an extra effort to not getting clicked.
Does the tag of being a recluse irritate you or do you go along with it since it just allows you to be in your own space without being bothered too much?
I honestly don’t know where that tag came from. I have always been like this… I am friendly, I like meeting people, I like being social. Thankfully, it’s not used too much these days to describe me, but honestly, I am indifferent to it. I think people now need to think of a new adjective to describe me.
You are very active on Instagram, but are not present on any other social media platform....
What I like about Instagram are photographs. I am a big fan of photographic memories. I’ve always liked to click pictures and to always remember the moment through the picture. I think there are so many stories a picture can tell. I like to share parts of my life with the world, but only to a certain extent. I share pictures that mean something to me. Instagram suits my agenda completely. It’s enough for me because I am not a person who will engage with the world 24x7, give my opinions or get into discussions. That’s just not me.