TABU – A PROFOUND
TALENT
Talented
Tabu with subtle and enigmatic charm, consummate actress, full of intensity doesn’t need any preface for her astute acting skills, always in the
‘character’ on silver screen. She is intelligent, gifted, endowed with natural talent,
masterly craftsmanship and brings soul to her roles with the mere flick of her
eyes and expressions. A versatile actress who has won accolades from the masses
and the critics alike, with superb acting skills and her contribution to contemporary
Indian Film Industry is phenomenal.
Tabu (Tabassum Fatima) is one
of the finest actresses of Indian Film Industry, comparable with one of the
best actresses in Hollywood, Meryl Streep, for her memorable performance in films,
penchant for enacting diverse roles, she continues to give exemplary
performances, as both escalate their gifted skills for remarkable portrayals.
They have captivated the audience with their unique acting style which is
balanced, enriching and productive.
Tabu with mysterious aura and confidence rediscovers herself
brilliantly in any role, acting spontaneously.
In recently released hit movie ‘Andhadhun’,
Tabu transforms herself into a perfect antagonist, without histrionics, and the
‘killer’ emerges with sheer energy, a grey role performance only possible from
an artist like her. She has chosen varied acting art forms for identifying with
the characters, with confidence, determination and silent demeanour in the
movies she continues to do. Even doing regional movies, Tabu stands tall in
midst of her contemporaries as she easily melts into the local backdrop, culture
and nuances, a perfect native and appreciated by masses and critiques.
“I see how
important the character is to a film. If I feel that it will stand out or if it
will have its own place in the story with other characters, I will do it. Also,
I trust my director.”
Tabu
With her interminable
bonding with Gulzar, beginning with Maachis as his muse in his
intellectual art form, she is extraordinaire as his simple woman. Tabu’s affinity
to Gulzar’s craft is splendorous and she recently expressed her desire to do a
film with Gulzar again. Probably she discovered
herself in Maachis ,since then her performance chart is ascending and yet we
feel that she deserves a ‘Mother India’ but perhaps she is meant to continue
for many more iconic productions. She has always acknowledged legendary Gulzar’s
influence on her work and it would be immense pleasure to see this combination
again on silver screen with Gulzar’s creativity and Tabu bringing his visualization
to life, with her fine art.
Another award-winning
director and story writer Vishal Bhardwaj known for beautifully adapting Shakespeare classics, has cast Tabu time and
again. Whether it is Nimmi in Maqbool or Ghazala of Haider, with shades of grey,
as wife/ mistress or mother of protagonist, she has done justice to all the
roles. In fact, the Ghazala Meer of Haider is
stronger than the Gertrude of Hamlet and one foreign journalist even said that
the movie should have been named ‘Ghazala’.
Madhur
Bhandakar while writing ‘Chandini Bar’ started to visualise Tabu as his Mumtaz,
wrote and directed the full movie with her as the pivot. She on the other hand,
though working with an inexperienced director, brought life into Mumtaz, winning
the National award by her mesmerizing performance. Similarly, M F Hussain in
his semi-autobiographical movie (about him and his muse Meenakshi) had only
Tabu’s name in mind to play the main role. She found herself
equally at home with art-house director Kalpana Lajmi in Darmiyaan.
Manjrekar cast her in Astitva as an adulterous middle-class
housewife who ages enough in the course of the film to play mother to a young
man, Tabu played Aditi Pandit with natural ease, metamorphosing without relying
on extensive make-up and her presence allowed Manjrekar to cast Sachin Khedekar
and Mohnish Bahl in pivotal roles instead of more known names.
Whether it’s
Maqbool, Virasat, Cheeni Kum, Chandni Bar, Haider or any movie, Tabu is class apart,
not only in Haider that she has given one of her best performances but also in
all the movies she has done so far, be it as protagonist, antagonist or of any
shade. Her choice of ‘off beat’ movies may
have been perceived risky however after Gulzar’s Maachis, Tabu with her sheer
brilliance has enticed her directors, audiences and critics alike. The choice
of movies shows her bold attitude towards accepting a variety of challenging
roles, with her own critical faculty, which she has built through learning and experience. Tabu is precise, coherent and also understands all segments of expressions and emotions.
Exquisite Tabu’s sensitive and submissive portrayal in the thriller ‘Missing’ is
yet again riveting.
Though after
winning National,popular and critics’ awards, she could have become satisfied and complacent
but she still tries to challenge herself anew in each new project. Her acting
talent, intelligence and thirst for experimentation seems to be an integral part
of her life.
Tabu is not
an actress with heavy mascara or layers of paint but just pure, simple and elegant.
Tabu characterizes herself and becomes herself in her illustrations, with mind-blowing
gamut of emotions, allure and subtle quiet dignity, she handles her characters
with ethereal art, prompting critics to do critical analysis about her portrayals.
Tabu is an
actress of legendary directors of the past/ present who have made movies with
strong female roles and she has used her art to profoundly stimulate a strong
persona in every venture. She is the muse of literary and cultural film makers
who believe in realistic cinema. Had she been in the times of 50's or 60's Indian
films, she would have done full justice to the beauty of black and white cinema
with her exceptional performances.
Gulzar once complimented this star by saying, “Tabu is a combination of Nutan,
Meena Kumari and Nargis.”
She has worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi,
Bengali, Punjabi and even Assamese films, with some of the biggest names in the
business, Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, Priyadarshan, Rajiv Menon, Govind Nilhani
etc. She starred in the Telugu blockbuster Ninne Pelladata opposite
Nagarjuna, a film which won her National film award. The critically acclaimed
Malayalam period epic film Kalapani
with Mohanlal brought her laurels for her acting from all across South India.
It is very rare in the Indian film industry that a director
conceptualizes a film with a heroine in his perception but Tabu is one of the
few actresses where the directors have created their ‘opuses’ with her as the nucleus.
Like a true classical actress Tabu can go from being the muse of thinking
directors to adorning the cover of Vogue with equal ease. Yet
the impact of her performances often linger much after the films have gone.
It isn’t just the audience; even the filmmakers can’t stop thinking about her.
Bhandarkar is on record as contemplating a sequel to Chandni Bar,
just to see how Mumtaz is now, 14 years later.
As a viewer
we all hope to see much more of Tabu, though constrained she may be with lack
of good scripts and mainstream performers who are not scared to be with her in
the same frame, the big gaps between her projects gets shortened and perhaps we
see her in more realistic cinema, her forte, but then we would love to see her
also in the classical Indian cinema, a la Umrao Jaan or Pakeeza.
It is always
that the indelible performances of actors like Tabu, which become part of our
nostalgia, critical intellectual contemplation and evoke a yearning for encores,
something which we trust she can give us in the years ahead.
Anuradha Singh
22nd February, 2019
a.singhlink@gmail.com
Copyright©2019 Anuradha Singh.
All rights reserved. This article or any portion thereof can not be reproduced
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the author.My articles on the related subject are as
follows...
https://asingh2019.blogspot.com/2020/08/mira-nairs-suitable-tabu.html?m=1
Anuradha Singh (2020).
FEMALE POWER AND IDENTITY-INDIAN CINEMA https://asingh2019.blogspot.com/2020/01/female-power-and-identity-indian-cinema.html?m=1
Anuradha Singh (2019).
CONTEMPORARY INDIAN CINEMA – AN ANALOGY https://asingh2019.blogspot.com/2019/05/contemporary-indian-cinema-anology.html?m=1
Anuradha Singh (2019).
TABU - A PROFOUND TALENT
https://asingh2019.blogspot.com/2019/02/tabu-profoundtalent-talentedtabu-with.html?m=1
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