In Drishyam, she is the steel-eyed antagonist to Ajay’s concerned father. In Golmaal Again, she is the mysterious medium who is key to unravelling the puzzle in the horror comedy. And in De De Pyaar De, she and Ajay Devgn play a separated couple who still strike romantic sparks off each other though he has a young girlfriend now. Tabu lent an air of gravitas to these star vehicles and made sure you also remembered her when you left the theatre.
Tabu scored her biggest triumph in recent years with a tour de force performance as the femme most fatale in director Sriram Raghavan’s acclaimed film noir, Andhadhun (2018), which was a box office success not only in India but also surprisingly in China.
She oozed sensuality and danger as a duplicitous wife (to veteran actor Anil Dhawan, separated from her by at least a couple of generations!) who draws leading man Ayushmann Khurrana into an intricately woven web of deceit. Tabu’s scalpel sharp performance is a delight.
Today, she has rendered irrelevant the question of why Tabu has not been paired romantically opposite some major heroes. She can do a cameo as Salman Khan’s sister in Bharat (2019) and turn in an affecting performance. She will next be seen in Jawaani Jaaneman alongside Saif Ali Khan and Pooja Bedi’s attractive daughter, Alaia Furniturewala.
