Tabu is an Indian actress that appears primarily inHindi films. Her first credited role came as a teenager inDev Anand'sHum Naujawan (1985), and her first major role was in the Telugu filmCoolie No. 1 (1991).^[1][2] In 1994, Tabu received theFilmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the Hindi action dramaVijaypath, which marked her first of many collaborations with co-starAjay Devgn.^[3] The year 1996 was key for Tabu.^[4] Her performance as a young woman affected by thePunjab insurgency inGulzar'sMaachis proved to be a breakthrough, winning her theNational Film Award for Best Actress.^[4][5] Also that year, Tabu won theFilmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for the romanceNinne Pelladata, and featured alongsideGovinda in the comedy filmSaajan Chale Sasural.^[6][7]

Tabu had a brief role in the war filmBorder, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1997, and portrayed a village girl oppositeAnil Kapoor in thePriyadarshan-directed dramaVirasat.^[8][9] Among her 1999 releases were two of the top-grossing Bollywood films of the year—the comedyBiwi No.1, and the family dramaHum Saath-Saath Hain.^[10] She also starred as the rebellious daughter of a corrupt politician in Gulzar's critically praised dramaHu Tu Tu (1999).^[11][12] The following year, she starred inKandukondain Kandukondain, a Tamil adaptation ofSense and Sensibility, and played a submissive homemaker in the bilingual dramaAstitva.^[13][14] Tabu garnered a second National Film Award for Best Actress for portraying a bar dancer inMadhur Bhandarkar's crime dramaChandni Bar (2001).^[15][16] In 2003, she starred in the Bengali filmAbar Aranye, and portrayed a character based onLady Macbeth, inMaqbool—an adaptation ofMacbeth fromVishal Bhardwaj.^[17][18] Following a few commercial failures,^[19] Tabu played triple roles inM. F. Husain's musical dramaMeenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.^[20] Tabu's first international project came withMira Nair'sadaptation ofJhumpa Lahiri's novelThe Namesake.^[14][21] InR. Balki'sCheeni Kum (2007), Tabu starred alongsideAmitabh Bachchan as a woman romantically involved with a much older man;^[15] the role earned her a record fourthFilmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.^[a][23][24]

Following a brief role inAng Lee's adventure filmLife of Pi (2012),^[25][26] Tabu starred alongsideSalman Khan inJai Ho, and garnered critical acclaim for playing theGertrude character in Bhardwaj'sHaider.^[27][28] She won theFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.^[29] Tabu's career continued to expand with starring roles opposite Devgn in the thrillerDrishyam (2015), the horror comedyGolmaal Again (2017), and the romantic comedyDe De Pyaar De (2019).^[30] She gained acclaim for playing a murderess inAndhadhun (2018), which ranks as one of thehighest-grossing Indian films.^[31][32] In 2020, she featured in the top-grossing Telugu filmAla Vaikunthapurramuloo, winning theFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu, and starred in the British miniseriesA Suitable Boy.^[33][34][35] Further commercial successes came in 2022 with the sequelsDrishyam 2 andBhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and the heist comedyCrew (2024).^[36]Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 won her another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.^[37]

• List of awards and nominations received by Tabu

• Tabu atIMDb
• Tabu onBollywood Hungama

• Indian filmographies
• Actress filmographies

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