Tabu filmography

Indian actress Tabu appears primarily in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films. Her first credited role came as a teenager in Dev Anand's Hum Naujawan (1985), and her first major role was in the Telugu film Coolie No. 1 (1991).^[1][2] In 1994, Tabu received the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the Hindi action drama Vijaypath, which marked her first of many collaborations with co-star Ajay Devgn.^[3] The year 1996 was key for Tabu.^[4] Her performance as a young woman affected by the Punjab insurgency in Gulzar's Maachis proved to be a breakthrough, winning her the National Film Award for Best Actress.^[4][5] Also that year, Tabu won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for the romance Ninne Pelladata, and featured alongside Govinda in the comedy film Saajan Chale Sasural.^[6][7]

Tabu had a brief role in the war film Border, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1997, and portrayed a village girl opposite Anil Kapoor in the Priyadarshan-directed drama Virasat.^[8][9] Among her 1999 releases were two of the top-grossing Bollywood films of the year—the comedy Biwi No.1, and the family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain.^[10] She also starred as the rebellious daughter of a corrupt politician in Gulzar's critically praised drama Hu Tu Tu (1999).^[11][12] The following year, she starred in Kandukondain Kandukondain, a Tamil adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and played a submissive homemaker in the bilingual drama Astitva.^[13][14] Tabu garnered a second National Film Award for Best Actress for portraying a bar dancer in Madhur Bhandarkar's crime drama Chandni Bar (2001).^[15][16] In 2003, she starred in the Bengali film Abar Aranye, and portrayed a character based on Lady Macbeth, in Maqbool—an adaptation of Macbeth from Vishal Bhardwaj.^[17][18] Following a few commercial failures,^[19] Tabu played triple roles in M. F. Husain's musical drama Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities.^[20] Tabu's first international project came with Mira Nair's adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake.^[14][21] In R. Balki's Cheeni Kum (2007), Tabu starred alongside Amitabh Bachchan as a woman romantically involved with a much older man;^[15] the role earned her a record fourth Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.^[a][23][24]

Following a brief role in Ang Lee's adventure film Life of Pi (2012),^[25][26] Tabu starred alongside Salman Khan in Jai Ho, and garnered critical acclaim for playing the Gertrude character in Bhardwaj's Haider.^[27][28] She won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.^[29] Tabu's career continued to expand with starring roles opposite Devgn in the thriller Drishyam (2015), the horror comedy Golmaal Again (2017), and the romantic comedy De De Pyaar De (2019).^[30] She gained acclaim for playing a murderess in Andhadhun (2018), which ranks as one of the highest-grossing Indian films.^[31][32] In 2020, she featured in the top-grossing Telugu film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu, and starred in the British miniseries A Suitable Boy.^[33][34][35] Further commercial successes came in 2022 with the sequels Drishyam 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.^[36] The latter won her another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.^[37]