Tabu Biography

Tabu aka Tabassum Hashmi is an Indian actress who is not just famous for her beauty but for her exceptional acting skills. She has performed in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and English films. She was born on November 4, 1970 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

She had connections with the film industry as her elder sister Farha was a film actress and her aunt Shabana Azmi is a well known actress of Bollywood. She was born and brought up in Hyderabad by her parents Rizwana and Jamal Hashmi.

Tabu’s first film was Dev Anand’s Hum Naujawan(1985) though as a child artiste. Her debut film with a lead role as an actress was ‘Prem’, followed by, ‘Pehla Pehla Pyar’, which couldn’t score well on the Bollywood. But her role in Vijaypath (1994) opposite Ajay Devgan gave her popularity for which she won the Filmfare Best Debut Award. The song ‘Ruk ruk ruk’ in the film was a rage among the youngsters at that time. This was followed by films like Saajan Ki Baahon Mein, Haqeeqat, Kala Pani, Himmat, Tu Chor Main Sipahi, Jeet which turned out to be flops on the box office.

Tabu was lucky to be one of the favorite choice of Gulzar as an actress, who casted her in films like Maachis and Hu Tu Tu and later by Meghna Gulzar in Filhaal. These powerful roles in his films reflect her true spirit as an actress. She has acted in Priyadarshan’s Viraasat and Kamal Haasan’s Chachi 420 which are also worth mentioning. The two movies belong to two different genres but shows her strength as an actress. Tabu won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice – for Maachis (1996) and Chandni Bar (2002). She also won three Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance category for Virasat (1997), Hu Tu Tu (1999), and Astitva (2000). This versatile actress has acted in films which are off the beaten track and deal with women’s issues. Her Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities and Maqbool are the two other films for which she received appreciation from critics.In 2006, she acted in Kunal Kohli’s Fanaa opposite Kajol and Aamir Khan.