A character like Simi from AndhaDhun doesn't come every day: Tabu

Guess what Tabu’s secret dream has been? The actor, who turns a year older today, wanted to direct a film! She had even thought of the story, the actors she wanted to direct and the shooting locations. But it did not work out.

“Long back I had the thought. As an actor, you don’t just enact characters but also take part in the filming process. And that kind of often makes you feel like trying out other aspects of filmmaking. One of them being direction and I also wanted to (direct), but things did not go as planned..,” says the 48-year-old.

She had even shared her directorial dreams with a friend. “I was so excited that I even called my director friend Maneesh Sharma and told him that I am going to make a film. I shared the entire plan with him and he was quite encouraging… I think I needed that conversation, if nothing else. In future if an opportunity comes, I would like to make that dream come true,” adds Tabu, who will next be seen in Bollywood film Jawaani Jaaneman, Telugu movie Ala Vaikunthapurramloo and Mira Nair’s adaptation of A Suitable Boy.

While she plays a cameo in Jawaani Jaaneman, Tabu says that the character she essays comes at an important point in the story. In her debut Telugu film, she plays one of the lead parts and describes the character as “very close to who I am”. However, she refuses to talk about her international six-part series A Suitable Boy as she has been asked to be tight-lipped.

In a career spanning three decades, Tabu has essayed myriad roles. Which is the closest to her? She says, “It does not matter what character I’m playing. It can be a pilot, doctor, singer, mother… the journey the character undertakes is important, and that’s the reason I wouldn’t like to pick and choose. But yes, one character that has stayed with me is Nimmi from Maqbool (2003). Such strong female parts are usually not written in Bollywood. I feel Nimmi’s character acted as a catalyst in the way the industry is changing. The character really stands out for its intensity.”

For Tabu, disassociating from such strong characters can sometimes be a challenge, but then moving on is something that’s important as an actor.

“Characters like Nimmi or Simi (Andhadhun; 2018) don’t come your way every day. Simi was on a different trip altogether. She doesn’t even know what she is going to do next. If you take these two characters out of the narrative, then there’s actually no story at all. Having played a Nimmi and Simi, I now want to play more such interesting characters but not something similar because that magic can happen only once.”