Tabu

Biography

Tabassum Fatima Hashmi, known mononymously as Tabu, is a two-time National Film Award, seven-time Filmfare Award, and Padma Shri-winning Indian actress celebrated as one of the most accomplished and versatile leading ladies in Indian cinematic history. Renowned for choosing complex, unconventional, and emotionally demanding roles across Hindi, Telugu, and international cinema, Tabu won her first National Film Award for Best Actress in Gulzar's Maachis (1996) and her second for Madhur Bhandarkar's Chandni Bar (2001). Her extraordinary filmography includes landmark masterworks such as Virasat, Hu Tu Tu, Astitva, Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool (Lady Macbeth adaptation) and Haider (Queen Gertrude), Mira Nair's The Namesake, and Ang Lee's multi-Oscar-winning Life of Pi (2012). In modern commercial cinema, Tabu has dominated with powerhouse performances as the fierce IG Meera Deshmukh in Drishyam and Drishyam 2, the wicked femme fatale Simi in Andhadhun (2018), Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, and the heist comedy Crew (2024). Tabu remains a revered gold standard of dramatic excellence. Tabu's extraordinary artistic longevity, fearlessness in tackling morally ambiguous characters, and commanding presence across four decades have firmly established her as an untouchable legend of modern cinema.