She is relevant even today and her latest films, Bhool Bhulaiya 2 and Drishyam 2, were big hits.
Tabu made her debut in a typical Bollywood masala movie Pehla Pehla Pyaar which was bombed at the box office, her next movie Prem a big-budget movie that introduced Sanjay Kapoor failed at the ticket window. Her first hit movie was Vijaypath opposite Ajay Devgn and since then she has given many hit movies like Sajan Chale Sasural, Biwi No 1, among others. She worked with directors who are poles apart like David Dhawan and Vishal Bhardwaj but she balanced her career well.
Maqbool
Maqbool was the first movie in Vishal Bhardwaj Shakespeare's trilogy movies, inspired by Macbeth the movie starred Pankaj Kapoor, Irfan Khan, and Tabu in lead roles.
Maqbool is probably one of the best adaptations of William Shakespeare's stories and plays. Vishal Bhardwaj adopted Macbeth and set it in the Mumbai underworld. Tabu played the role of Lady Macbeth, the escort of Macbeth, played by the brilliant Pankaj Kapoor as Abbaji. She had an affair with Abbaji’s henchman Irfan Khan who played the titular role of Maqbool and both of them kill Abbaji to get the throne to rule the city. But their past haunts them and they are never at peace and while Tabu becomes insane out of guilt, Maqbool too loses everything he had, including his life. A must-watch for all cinema lovers, Maqbool is undoubtedly a cinematic gem.
Sriram Raghavan is known for making neo-noir thriller movies like Johnny Gaddar, Badlapur, etc. Inspired by a short movie ‘Shoot the Piano Player', he developed the short movie into a full-fledged movie and it featured Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte, and Tabu in lead roles. Tabu plays the role of Simmy, the wife of a formerly famous actor who was having an affair with a police officer played by Manav Vij. Ayushmann Khurrana plays a piano player who fakes his blindness to get sympathy from people. He by chance becomes a witness to the murder of Simi’s husband who was killed by Simi and her boyfriend. Tabu gave a terrific performance in a negative role and got lots of accolades for her acting.
In Astitva Tabu plays the character of Aditi Pandit (Tabu) who wants to find an identity outside of her marriage. The movie explores taboo subjects like the sexual desires of women and post-marital affair but not in a titillating way. The movie shows her journey from a young girl to a middle-aged woman with a grown-up son. Tabu’s performance in Mahesh Manjrekar’s directorial is considered one of her best performances and rightly so. The movie also featured Sachin Khedekar, Sunil Barve, Mohnish Bahl, Smita Jaykar, and Namrata Shirodkar.
