About this artist
Tabassum Fatima Hashmi, known by the mononym Tabu, is an Indian film actress primarily working in Hindi films. She has additionally worked in other regional films in different languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi. Regarded as one of the most accomplished actresses in India, Tabu has often played troubled, complicated women in a range of characters, from fictional to literary, in both mainstream and independent cinema, as well as some American productions. She has won two National Film Awards for Best Actress and six Filmfare Awards, including a record four Critics Awards for Best Actress. In 2011, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of the country.
Tabu's first credited role came as a teenager in Dev Anand's Hum Naujawan, but her first role as a lead was in the Telugu film Coolie No. 1. In 1994, she received the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the Hindi action film Vijaypath. The year 1996 was key for Tabu, as her performance as a young woman affected by the Punjab insurgency in Gulzar's Maachis won her the National Film Award for Best Actress.