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I can't give blanket statements on feminism: Tabu
She’s one of us, this two-time National Award winner, singleton, poet on the sly, secret glamazon, Padma Shri honoree and moody girl next door. Just don’t go cerebral on her!
The last time I met Tabu, almost a decade ago, the actress had signalled her lone household help to vamoose and poured the tea herself.
Now, meeting her days before Drishyam’s release, I see that bona fide Bollywood acquisition: her ‘team’. Managers, PR people, photographer and two chaps with homemade khichdi in a tiffin.
By the time I get to meet her, she’s channeling her inner Zen, like Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda. The calm is broken by her iPhone. It’s a picture of her pet chihuahua, Chinu. "I wasn’t fond of tiny dogs. But my sister left him with me when she went to Italy, and I didn’t give him back," she chuckles.
No copping out
But the iPhone is banished. Her attention is focused on the task at hand. Whether on screen or in real life, the ace up Tabu’s sleeve is what her Filhaal co-star, Sushmita Sen, describes as “her gift for keeping it real”.
First up are comparisons to the Malayalam film Drishyam and its much-appreciated Tamil version Papanasam. In both films, plus a third Kannada version, actress Asha Sarath had nailed the super-cop role. Was Tabu intimidated at all?
“I saw Drishyam two years ago. I thought it was a fantastic format, perceived and written beautifully. But Nishi [director Nishikant Kamat] didn’t want us to revisit the original. Of course people who’ve seen the original will compare it. It doesn’t weigh on my mind. Practically, we had a release date and three months to wrap up the film. If we had thought so much, the film wouldn’t have taken off.” (When the film released, Tabu predictably sailed through, being described in reviews as “a badass superstar” and “hot in uniform”.)
Did she study lady cops to pull off IG Meera Deshmukh, a marked departure from her earlier, more ‘inward-looking’ roles? “No,” she says. “You’re smart enough to know that there’s a certain body language required, and you apply that understanding.”
She makes it sound disappointingly simple. Surely the finest actress of our times has something profound to say. “I don’t have a method, which is probably why I’ve never spoken about it,” she says stubbornly. “It’s not so technical really. Mostly, I work on instinct. That’s my DNA and I work best when I work like that.”
Remember ruk ruk ruk?
Her DNA brings us to her large bank of commercial films. Having worked with Vishal Bharadwaj, Mira Nair and Ang Lee, looking back at Ruk Ruk Ruk from 1994’s Vijaypath must make her cringe.
“Why should I?” she retorts calmly. “That’s why I’m here. I couldn’t have got the so-called parallel cinema offers if not for my commercial success. Who doesn’t like song and dance, yaar? I loved doing Ruk-Ruk-Ruk. People recognise me because of it. It was the beginning of my career and beginnings are always special.”
Her love for song and dance is something that friend, choreographer and filmmaker Farah Khan vouches for. “Tabu sings well. But why are we even talking of her as a dancer? She’s transcended all that! Sajid [Khan, Farah’s brother] and I would pull her leg for all those badly choreographed songs from the ’90s. But she carried off Ruk Ruk Ruk with typical confidence.”
Hot topics
Tabu’s sensitivity is legendary, both on and off screen. "She’s a fun-loving girl, but then she’ll just be crying for a few hours for no reason," Khan says. "There’s no telling what could set her off."
The right balance: Roughing it in Drishyam (below) and being reasonable in Cheeni Kum (above), Tabu’s repertoire reflects her range as an actress.
Her Cheeni Kum director, R Balki, says Tabu is the most sensitive person he’s met. "Her sense of script and cinema is fantastic. She’s instinctive, spontaneous and simplifies things rather than complicates them." Incidentally, Nina in Cheeni Kum is the role with which the actress most identifies. "It’s very happenable, na? I can behave, act and react like she does."
This is my cue to ask her about the new glam feminism in showbiz today. She grimaces, promptly switching to Hinglish. "My primary language of expression is not English. Main jab kisi cheez ya person ke bare mein bolna chahti hoon, to bahut kuch lost in translation ho jaata hai. Mujhe simple tareeke se kuch pooche toh main bol sakti hoon. Else, you’re better off with people who are experts. Aise jhande leke nikalne ki meri iccha nahi hain; sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t give blanket statements on feminism."
Within a second of her temper flaring, she senses her own irritation and half-mocks: "Kisi aur ko poocho na poocho, aise questions Tabu ko to zaroor poochne chahiye!"
Having swiftly dissolved the tension, she’s back to calm, wise Master Shifu mode. "I can sit here and say anything, ya. How I am and what my life is as a woman, speaks for itself."
Even while getting into the skin of complex, morally-dubious women like Nimmi (Maqbool) and Ghazala (Haider), Tabu admits that she isn’t capable of emotional brutality. "I’ve grown up around easy-going, humorous women. They’ve been emotionally strong women, and by that I mean women who feel emotions very strongly. That is very important to me. I want to feel and honour every emotion strongly and intensely without ‘jumping’ an emotion."
It’s easy to see that she’s at home talking about emotions. (Khan says Tabu writes poetry on the sly and refuses to let anybody read it). I reckon she’ll make a terrific life coach.
Glamazon diaries
She’d also make a terrific model: From a gorgeous cut-out Malini Ramani outfit at Kangana Ranaut’s bash for Queen last year, to a cheery printed Dev R Nil kaftan and an army of shirt dresses showing off her never-ending legs, Tabu’s strayed from her trusted tent-like suits.
Fashion magazines put her on their covers, and not for the ‘Ageing Gracefully’ issues. Editor of Harper’s Bazaar Nishat Fatima, who’d featured her on their October 2014 cover, says, “When I look at Tabu I see an incredibly talented actress who looks very good in whatever she wears. But the clothes don’t wear her, they are incidental to who she is and how inspirational she is.”
The actress herself is fairly clear about what it takes to be the glamazon. And it explains why all those managers and publicists are still hovering, “I love dressing up, always have,” Tabu says. “But I need people around telling me what to do. If you leave me to my own devices, I’ll just dress for comfort.”
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From HT Brunch, August 16
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