The paradox of being Tabu

Did you know the queen of arthouse prefers mainstream? That’s what the writer discovers to his surprise on meeting the charming Tabu

Tabu

If you didn’t watch her films, you could easily mistake her for Farah Khan. For she shares Farah’s spirit and love for commercial cinema and is almost dismissive of anything arthouse or indie because her idea of cinema is ironically the opposite of the films she is in. “Maybe that’s why we have been best friends for years,” she laughs out loud.

“There’s a dichotomy, I agree,” she laughs in the middle of our interview when I confront her after sensing that she prefers entertainment to art.

We are talking about the queen of arthouse here. Tabu. Of

Haider . Of

Life of Pi . Tabu. Of

The Namesake . Of

Chandni Bar .

“People have created this perception of me in their own heads because they take it for granted that I am only going to do these (art) kinds of films and that I have a great opinion only about these films.

Aisa kuch nahin hai ,” says Tabu, talking to me at her Lokhandwala flat.

Maybe that’s why she did Jai Ho ? A Bhai film to make a statement.

“It was homecoming for me. It’s the fourth film I did with Salman,” she laughs. “I may prefer comedies or Farah Khan kind of films but people who are offering me these roles are not thinking whether I’m endorsing that kind of films. They approach me if they feel I suit the role and the character.”

"Every film is a different offer. It should be worth my time if I have to get out of comfort zone to do a film"

What doesn’t she like about arthouse films then?

“Well, most of the people can’t or don’t want to pay money. Probably, they come with the presumption or notion that I believe in art more. I don’t know. Maybe they think I have no right to ask for money because they have given me a good role.”

How could they think that the actress who did multiple-Oscar-winning Life of Pi and TheNamesake would be affordable, I ask.

“People can think anything, no? I can’t show them my repertoire. Most of the time, it’s that or sometimes, I think it is not worth my time. I have to spend six months or a year away from home. In any case, I don’t think everyone does everything offered to them. How many actors or my contemporaries are doing ten films a year. Why is this question posed to me?”

So she is a reluctant actor because the kind of films she loves watching don’t approach her and the films that want her can’t afford her?

“I don’t know what to answer. With every film, the priority is different. With every film, the reason for me to say ‘No’ is different. It’s not like a blanket thing. It’s not like a desk job. Every film is a different offer. I’m not able to understand. It should be worth my time if I have to get out of comfort zone to do a film.”

What’s her comfort zone? “My home. Lokhandwala. My friends. And my family. And it’s not a once and for all choice. You are making choices as and when the options are coming. Depending on what you are getting offered, irrespective of who the director is. You are picking or rejecting whatever comes along the way. Life of Pi and The Namesake were worth spending time away from home.”

“It’s a huge leap in your own experience with people. You meet new people. You get so much fodder. The friends I made in The Namesake — I still have my New York and LA friends. That way, it opens up my life. So if it translates to work, then great.”

So how does she evaluate artistic merit in projects? What is good cinema to her?

She pauses to think for a moment and explains hesitantly. “Enjoying the experience of watching the film. I can’t get away from being an audience from my childhood association with movies. That’s why it’s difficult for me to become critical, analytical or judgmental about movies and cinema. As an actor, your life has changed, your relationship with the movies has changed. But when you were not an actor, your relationship with movies was totally different. So somewhere you were caught between that and this. So I am not able to get a handle on what is my take on movies and what is my relationship with it.”

She never went to acting school. She picked up acting along the way, on the job, she says. When Vishal called her for Haider , she did have her reservations about the odd pairing. She knew it was a layered, complex role. There was just one reading before they left for Kashmir and that was it.

I ask her about that moment when a grown up Haider kisses her sensuously on her neck and her reaction at that exact point. Did she know she was getting into incestuous territory?

“I didn’t see it like that. It’s definitely not incestuous. If there was, it was not deliberate. That’s what came at that time. There are too many layers, too many things going on in her mind,” she explains how she approached Vishal’s interpretation of Hamlet’s Oedipal relationship with his mother.

Torn, conflicted, complex. Classic Tabu.