THE CHOSEN ONE

Looking as always like the girl-next-door in a black printed churidar kurta, sipping a cup of milk and cuddling her nephew, Tabu looks anything but the chosen one who is suddenly in the mind of every serious filmmaker. In fact, her sudden claim to fame has her in a daze. “Is this really happening to me?” she looks bewildered. “And if it is, why am I being singled out for all this adulation? What have I done? There are so many others who have achieved so much more and so many who’ll achieve so much more.”

For a person who’s used to being a spectator on the sidelines, the sudden glare of the spotlight is disconcerting... and disturbing. She’s not enjoying it. She’d much rather be left alone, to enjoy the company of her idol Gulzar sahab than be chased with persistent queries of: Are you aiming for another National Award? She’s not. The coveted honour just happened... taking her by surprise. And now she’d rather everyone forgot it and left her to enjoy her work... which is not all heavy-duty histrionics. Tabu’s dream at the moment is, believe it or not, to play a fairy or a mermaid. This girl’s an enigma. With her soft-focus looks and the thread of steel running beneath. But maybe that’s why she is who she is. The chosen one.

Hu Tu Tu, let’s start with that.
How does it feel to be working with Gulzar again?
Working with Gulzar sahab the first time was like a dream come true. And even the thought that he wants to repeat me in his next film is like a second dream come true. With Maachis and its incredible commercial success, people’s perception of parallel cinema has changed. And I’m happy and proud that I’m a part of this whole movement, this kind of cinema. It's increased my credibility as an actress, put me in a very respectable slot, so to say. And that’s very gratifying.

In short you’re on a high?
Sure. But during Maachis I was always in a kind of daze, I had to keep reminding myself that I was doing a movie with Gulzar sahab. This time I’m more relaxed. And more nervous. After the Maachis euphoria I know everyone’s expecting a lot from us. It’s the same team but a bigger movie with Nana (Patekar) and Sunil (Shetty). Speculation and expectations are sky high. Everyone’s waiting... wondering if it’ll be another award-winning performance. It’s all pretty nerve-racking. There were no such pressures during Maachis.

You mean the thought of a National Award
never once crossed your mind?
Never! I was too busy wondering what it would be like to be finally working with Gulzar sahab. I’d never thought I’d get so lucky. In fact, I’d almost convinced myself I’d never get the chance. And then, when I had almost been written off, he decides to make a film after five years and wants to cast me in it. It still seems so unbelievable! I really want to ask Gulzar sahab why he thought of me then, when I had nothing but a Ruk ruk and a thunder thighs tag to my credit. I did Maachis in a dream, wondering worriedly about what would happen if I couldn’t do a shot properly. Would he scold me? Would he be mad? With all these worries who had the time to worry about the National Award. In fact, till I went on stage and actually accepted my medal from the President, I never really believed that I was a National Award winner. Such an honour was for someone like Shabana aunty. She had three of them in a row... a hat-trick!

Do you think you could emulate that feat too?
Three awards in three consecutive years? You must be joking! I don’t think any actress today can emulate that. I was lucky I won even one.

And has this one award changed people’s perception of you?
They seem to have finally realised
that this soft-spoken laid-back girl is an actress par excellence, right?
That realisation had dawned as soon as Gulzar sahab cast me for Maachis. I was suddenly up there with the respectable actresses and that’s something I’ll always cherish. The National Award was only the final sign of appreciation. More than the National Award I’d say it was Maachis which changed my career and my life. I still thank my stars that I was still in films when Gulzar sahab made Maachis. What if I’d left films... or he had...

What’s the first reaction you get when you’re introduced as Tabu,
last year’s National Award winner?
Amazement... “You’re so young”, followed by, “Keep up the good work. What’s your next film?” I can see respect in their eyes, and the expectation that I’ll do more such films. It’s a very warm feeling. I was so touched when, while having dinner in a Jodhpur hotel, a complete stranger walked upto me and said, “You’re Tabu, aren’t you? I just stopped by to say I loved you in Maachis.” In hotel lobbies, shops, airports and aircrafts there’s always someone coming up to congratulate me. It’s embarrassing at times, especially when I’m told I’ve become a role model for young girls. That’s when I wonder, “Hey, is this really happening to me?” And if it is, then why? Aisa kya kiya hai maine? There’re so many who’ve achieved so much more and there’re so many who’ll achieve so much more...

Maybe the adulation was because you relived someone’s life,
brought back to life someone’s lost child in Maachis?
That’s what they tell me. I get lots of letters from Sikh families who tell me that my role in Maachis has refreshed memories. They’ve gone through what I go through in the film, they’ve lived that life. And that’s an eerie feeling because you’re not a larger-than-life heroine, you’ve played someone who could be real. In fact, a lot of people tell me that I actually looked like a Punjabi kudi and that’s why they felt this sense of belonging with the film, this apnapan with my character. I was one of them and I think that was the reason why the film was such a big hit in Delhi, Punjab, and the rest of the North.

Could you identify and empathise as strongly with Veera?
Well, I don’t know much about what happened in Punjab, or what’s happening there today. I only know the Maachis girl from the pages of Gulzar sahab's script. But yes, though Veera wasn’t that real for me, I found a lot of myself in her. That’s the beauty of Gulzar sahab’s characters. When you see them, play them, you get the feeling that what’s happening with her mere saath bhi ho sakta hai. What I liked best about Veera was that she wasn’t a crying, clinging doormat. I admired her quiet strength. She did what she thought was right, with conviction, breaking conventions. There’s a lot of that steel in me too. But it takes its time to come out.

Well, you certainly keep it well hidden. I don’t think before Maachis anyone could have thought you would play
a hardcore terrorist so convincingly.
Yeah, the Ruk ruk girl hunting down a merciless terrorist? Only Gulzar sahab could have thought of me in that role. It’s a mind of a genius. It’s amazing how Gulzar sahab thinks that the most unlikely actor can carry off a certain role. You’ll see a very different Sunil in Hu Tu Tu now.

Yeah, already people are wondering what the Mountain Man is doing in a political drama. Hu Tu Tu is a kind of sequel to Aandhi, right?
Aandhi? Politics? I don’t think that’s Hu Tu Tu. As far as I know, it’s a film about relationships... human and social. I’m playing this nice, real girl. But please don’t expect another National Award winning performance. I hate being pressurised. I don’t have to prove anything. I wasn’t even trying to prove anything during Maachis. An ’I’ll show them’ kind of attitude is alien to me. I’m a simple girl who’s quite happy being with her family, friends and Gulzar sahab. So let me be, leave me alone.

That’s not easy. You’re not just another actress today.
Even commercial cinema’s dream merchants
must be treating you with more respect and awe now.
How many formula film offers have you got after the National Award?
Well, there have been quite a few offers. I’m doing Mehul Kumar’s film with Mr Bachchan which will be a very commercial film. Then there’s Sooraj Barjatya’s film which will again be the epitome of glamour and commercial cinema. And I’m doing Raftaar, Priyadarshan’s fun film which is reminiscent of the ’70s genre. I don’t know why, after Maachis, I’ve suddenly been slotted as an art film heroine. I love commercial cinema, I’ve done my share of mainstream films which are an important part of our lives. We grew up watching them. It’s from these films that our image of the hero and heroine developed.

True. But today one really can’t see
Tabu running around the conifers and dreaming of candyfloss.
Why not? Even today I know I can’t expect to get a mind-blowing, National Award winning role in every film I’m offered. I’ve always been open to every kind of film, any type of role. I’ve sampled everything, enjoyed everything, even though the films may not be many. And I’m still ready for anything. Even if I have only five songs to sing, it’ll be nice, once in a while. There’ll be no pressure to perform.

A film like Chachi 420 you mean?
Yeah, Chachi 420 was fun. Before we realised it the film was through and doing great business. I’d been offered Indian and a song in Avvai Shanmughi before but somehow things didn’t work out. So when Chachi 420 came up I grabbed it. I didn’t want to be third time unlucky. Chachi 420 was for me a chance to watch Kamal Haasan at work. He’s an actor I’ve admired so long for his versatility. He knows so much about every aspect of film-making. There was no way I’d have turned down Chachi 420. It was a remake of a very successful film and Kamal’s first Hindi film after so long. And the fact that he himself called me, was touching. So what if I didn’t have much footage? I have a hit with Kamal, don’t I?

Why did you turn down Saat Rang Ke Sapne?
You were the original choice for Mink’s role, weren’t you?
I was ready to do it but at that time Mani offered me Iruvar and Priyan thought I should do Mani’s film instead of his.

You lost out on an ABCL film
but now you have a film with AB. How does it feel?
(Laughs)It’s a saat rang ka sapna. I’m one of Mr Bachchan’s biggest fans and I would often wonder what I’d do the day I met him.

And what did you do?
Nothing really. My brain was working overtime. I had gone on a long flashback to Hyderabad, to the time Farha and I were kids and would go to see his films in the theatre. He’d been so larger-than-life and impossible to reach and suddenly this man was reaching out to me. After he saw Virasat he sent me a basket of flowers and a sweet note telling me how much he liked my performance. I told him very frankly that I’d never dreamt that the man I’d idolised for years would one day tell me he liked one of my films. It was... well, incredible!

Well, you were really very good in Virasat. No one had thought anyone could ever match up to Revathi but you’ve done the impossible.
Had you seen the original before you started work
on the Hindi remake of Thevar Magan?
Yes, I did and Revathi was so good that I didn’t know what pattern to follow. If I followed her lead those who’d seen Thevar Magan would crib that I’d copied her. But how would I do it my way? I’d never met a girl like this. She was so dumb. No, actually that’s not really true. She was illiterate, lost in her own small world but there was this spark of innate intelligence in her. She married Anil uncomplainingly because he was a man of a higher status and tolerated his girlfriend’s visit without compromising her position as the wife. She was smarter than she looked (people must have been wondering why Tabu had so much oil in her hair) but to me she was so unreal. I told Priyan I’d follow his lead but for a while even he was lost. He was adapting the film, setting it against a North Indian backdrop and being from the South he was, at the beginning, quite at a loss about what dialect he wanted me to speak. But things eventually fell into place. I don’t think it was a great role or performance. But everyone loved me. I guess, it was because it was so different from what other heroines were doing. And then there was that song... Payalen run jhun run jhun.. When I sing it the second time, it just kind of hits you, leaves a lasting impact.

Wasn’t the Gehna of Virasat very like the waif of Kala Pani?
Maybe the look was similar but the Kala Pani girl’s world wasn’t all that small. She can converse with her man who’s a lawyer, she even learns English for him and when he gets involved in the Swadeshi movement she throws everyone’s non-khadi clothes into the small bonfires. She’s a simple village girl with a mind of her own. Most women do have a mind of their own, you know.

But not in our movies.
There they’re nothing more than pretty puppets dancing on a string.
I think the responsibility and blame for creating such chickens go to us. Unless we heroines protest, the women in our cinema will continue to be portrayed as servile, submissive souls who’ve been born to lie at their pati parmeshwar’s feet, take his beatings and wait for the day when he turns over a new leaf. I try never to play a doormat. My characters are women who stand up for their rights, for what they think is right, independent of their husbands, in-laws, parents and brothers. If I’m a role model and out of 10,000 women even one moulds herself to be like me, I'll be happy. I don’t want to take Indian women back by a hundred years. Even Gehna may be illiterate but she’s not ill-treated. Her husband doesn’t beat her, he’s not a drunkard, he doesn’t have extra-marital affairs. She's treated with respect by her husband and in-laws.

How many women in real life are given this respect?
(Sighs) Not too many. Most of us, not just in the villages but even in cities, are conditioned to live life the way others expect us to. We’re good daughters, good daughters-in-law, good mothers and good wives. But is a woman ever given the chance to be herself? Why do we have to stop working after marriage? Would we expect the man to do something like that? So why the woman? She’s also a human being, isn’t she? Things are changing for the better... slowly. But I don’t think I’ll live to see the day when an Indian woman can do what she wants without giving a damn about what anybody thinks. I feel like a social activist debating about such issues. In fact, why debate about it at all? Isn’t it time women got their rights without having to fight for them.

In the film industry are women inferior beings off-screen too?
But of course. The heroine always has to be on the sets before the hero and though it takes her much longer to put on make-up, do her hair and get into her costume, the first shot of the day is always a solo and panned on her. And everyone knows that the heroine is always paid less than the hero, the argument being that it is his name which helps sell the film. But come on, the heroine has to work much harder. On her hair, figure, make-up, costumes, the half-a-dozen songs and dances she is expected to carry off. And she has to prove herself with every film. See, I can do an even better dance... See, I can look far more glamorous... See, I can act too... It’s time they took the heroine seriously. And what's encouraging is that this realisation is slowly beginning to dawn on the producers, directors and our heroines too who are trying to assert themselves and move towards a better cinema. The Indian woman on screen and off it is changing for the better... slowly. But better late than never.

You’ve worked in an international project.
Yeah, a French film, The Monkey Who Knew Too Much. And recently Deepa Mehta approached me for a film which she should hopefully get cracking on after Earth is complete.

Did the French unit treat you better?
Well, generally these foreign units are under the misconception that Indian actresses can't act. But I was lucky. The director had seen Kala Pani and thought I was amazing. When I won the National Award the first congratulatory card came from him. It was fun doing that film. It’s a very different world out there. The schedule is planned with clockwork precision. If you’re expected at 5.45 a.m. at wardrobe it means you have to be there on the dot. And when you’re told it’s a wrap at 5.30 p.m. you know shooting won’t extend to 6.30. I wish everything would be as organised here. The film went off so smoothly. It’s scheduled for an international release in March.

The Monkey Who Knew Too Much, that’s an unusual title.
Is the film all about monkeys?
Well, there are a lot of monkeys and the focus is on wildlife, adventure, Indian tradition and culture, but the film really is a lovely fairytale. I’m playing the daughter of a landlord who has no property or inheritance left. So I start teaching in a school. The film’s all about children and a childhood romance which is revived when my first love returns home from England just when I’m all set to marry the bad boy. It’s all very filmi (Smiles).

Is Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Aapke Hain Saath also a fairytale romance?
Well, there are six couples in the film so there should be a lot of romance. I was so thrilled when I got a call from Sooraj. I like his commitment to the kind of films he’s making and wants to make. Sooraj basically is a very nice person and so his films too are very nice. There’s no violence, no wicked people, not much unhappiness. They make you want to believe that there’s a world out there where everything’s hunky dory. I want to be a part of that world. There're times when I’d like to escape, at least in reel life, to a dream world. I’d love to play a fairy or a mermaid someday.

Hey lady, snap out of your dreams and get back to reality. The tanks are rumbling, the guns rattling, there’s a war out there. We’re talking of JP Dutta’s Border. That wasn’t much of a role, was it?
It wasn’t, but then I had never been under any illusions about that film. I only did it for JP. He came to me one day and said, “Tabu, I’m producing and directing a film, you’re in it, here’s the signing amount.” I was so touched that someone was treating me like a family member that though I knew it wasn't a great role and the guys were the main protagonists I told JP I would do the film. So what if it was just a passing appearance? So what if some of my few scenes were left behind on the editing table? I have no regrets. I’m happy I was a part of Border.

Though you started your career early there was a time when you wanted to be everything but an actress, remember?
Yeah, when I was in college I wanted to get into computers. Then I applied for the job of an air-hostess with Cathay Pacific. I even got a call and then at the last minute I decided I didn’t want to fly too high. Then for 5-6 years I was an exercise freak. I’d even don the role of an instructor once a week. Acting was never on my agenda for quite some time. And I’m glad I got the chance to see life, enjoy it. But now I can’t think of anything apart from acting. That’s what I want to do all my life.

But weren’t you going to quit once you got married?
Tell me why isn’t someone in the government service or a teacher asked if she is going to quit her job once she is married? Why are we singled out for this query? It’s not as if with age you forget how to act. Shabana aunty’s been acting since I was a kid and she’s still going strong. This is not like some physical training job where after a certain age you’re no longer fit for the job. Acting is God’s gift to me. It’s not easy you know, to go out there in front of the camera and shed tears when you’re in no mood to cry and flash a smile when you’re not in a very happy mood. You ask a girl on the street to say cheese for the family album and she’ll go stiff. Acting is one of the greatest forms of art, though it’s not given its due recognition. I’m glad I am one of God’s chosen ones. I’ve not put in any effort into planning my career. People crib that I’m never seen except in my films and that I’m foolish to be so laid-back. But that’s the way I am. I don’t think it's important to call up directors and tell them I want to be in their next project. To circulate at filmi parties. I have no god-father, no hero has ever recommended me, I don’t belong to any camp and I’m not part of any hit team. And yet directors like Mani, Priyan and Gulzar sahab want me in their films. I have the satisfaction of knowing today that I’ve made it on my own merit.

Now you’re in a position to champion the cause of good cinema.
So when are you directing your first film?
This industry’s so big. What difference will one girl make? It’s for all of us to realise our responsibilities. And it's happening. Actors like Sunil want to do different kinds of films and I think that will make some difference. I’d love to direct a film some day but it won’t be for a while. There’s still a lot more acting to be done. But I’d enjoy wielding the power. Telling an actor, “Tum udhar se aao”. Just thinking about it is thrilling but there’s time for that yet.

While you wait, with the backing of
Mr Sajid Nadiadwala you could produce a film.
Produce a film, no way! I’d rather do something more creative. And anyway, why should I put my money on myself. Let other people put their money on me.