The Blockbuster Interview! ‘Some relationships allow you to be real’: Tabu

The beauty of an actor like Tabu lies in the fact that you can’t typecast her. In her 25-year-old career, she has always been a trendsetter, experimenting with every shade in the actor palette, whether it’s white, black or grey, long before her contemporaries dared to do it.

More than two decades in the profession and this Padma Shri recipient is still rewriting the rules. And, at 47, she enjoys superstar status across the globe, a feat few have managed. 

Today, she is out promoting her Friday release, De De Pyaar De, a romantic comedy in which she shares screen space with Ajay Devgn and Rakul Preet Singh. 

Simultaneously, she is celebrating the blockbuster run of her previous movie outing, Sriram Raghavan’s AndhaDhun, which has taken China by storm. 

Excerpts from a chat with the actress… 

Let me start with congratulating you for AndhaDhun. Recently, the Indian Film Festival at Los Angeles paid you a tribute, right?

Yes, it was a special moment. They screened AndhaDhun and they also paid me a tribute. It felt special to share the moment with my director Sriram. And watch the film with a completely different audience that was enjoying it immensely. 

I heard they have your face on Chinese lanterns because the film is such a rage in that country... 

(Laughs) Rubbish. Anyway, we were constantly getting updates in LA about the black comedy thriller’s runaway success in China. When Sriram and I were there, we heard it had crossed Rs 300 crore out there. God, it felt so surreal and exciting. And it just kept getting bigger and bigger. After I landed in Mumbai, I heard that the final tally had gone on to become Rs 332 crore or perhaps more. We celebrated every moment, thinking this is ‘our’ success. It’s amazing that so many months after a movie originally released, it is still being celebrated. 

With Ajay Devgn and Rakul Preet Singh in De De Pyaar De 

Go on…

It’s a rare phenomenon. Even IMDB had it as the top Indian film of the year, 2018. Frankly, the vastness of AndhaDhun hasn’t sunk in yet. It will take a while for me to absorb it, but I can say that it has been a wholesome experience.

You wish to work with Sriram again, we hear.

Of course! Sriram and his team work in an autonomous fashion. They let each one — my co-star Ayushmann Khurana, me and all key players — feel that the success was to be equally shared between us. Rarely does a maker do that. Also, the way the audience is still talking about it is a new thing. Just the other day, someone at the airport walked up to me and said, ‘I have one question for you. What actually happened in the end?’

It is amazing that a film can start a conversation and continue it for so long. I’m aware it is on Netflix. I want to sit all by myself and watch AndhaDhun and see what I take back  from that experience. It is a unique thing to watch the same movie again and again, and experience something new each time. I know people who have watched it seven times over and someone who watched 10 times in the same day! It’s fantastic.

With its twists and turns, debates and craziness, it is still so special because of the involvement levels.

Recently, on The Kapil Sharma Show, Neena Gupta said that you were the first choice for Badhaai Ho. And she got the film on your recommendation. True?

Yes, it is sweet of Neenaji to say that.

With Ayushmann Khurrana in AndhaDhun 

In AndhaDhun, you played Ayushmann’s lover and in Badhaai Ho, which released almost simultaneously, you would have played his mother?

No, no. When director Amit Sharma gave me the narration for Badhaai Ho, the film had not been fully cast. It was a long time ago. They had only thought of Irrfan and me. There was no Ayushmann at that point. They wanted to cast the parents first. Also, at that time, the children were meant to be teenagers with the oldest being around 19 or perhaps 20 years of age. So, the set-up was different.

I remember telling Amit that this film is going to be a hit. The script was so lovely. The way they narrated it to me, the nuances and the entertainment value it had, I remember telling them, this movie will work in a big way.

Have you watched Badhaai Ho?

Not yet, I will do it, aaram se.

Coming to De De Pyaar De (DDPD), Ajay and you are a tried-and-tested pair. How do you guys manage to bring something new to your pairing each time?

Well, Ajay and I have been fortunate to deliver some superhits together. However, it isn’t as if we have been cast opposite each other as lovers in each of our films. In Drishyam (2015), we were pitted against each other, in Golmaal Again (2017), we weren’t romantically paired.  

As for DDPD, Luv Ranjan wrote the film with the two of us in mind. It’s an interesting equation with us playing a couple that has been estranged for 18 years.

Coming to the part of us as a pair — even I ask myself, why us? And then I answer it saying; yes, we are a screen pair with recall value. It is believable that Ajay and I could have been married and later, separated. Luckily, I have been placed differently in all the films that I have done with him. I’m not counting the ones, like Vijaypath (1994), Haqeeqat (1995) and Takshak (1999) that we did in the pre-2000 phase. Those were more or less romantic. 

However, from Drishyam onwards, the stories of all our films have been very different. And in relation to each other, we have had a chance to do something new too each time. I guess, this is the reason why our pairing works. There is a certain novelty. 

...with Ajay Devgn

You have articulated it earlier, but once again, do you agree that there is a certain comfort level between the two of you?

Yes, the comfort level between us is something you cannot substitute with anything else. I can’t replicate a similar equation with anyone else. There is a huge amount of trust and comfort. There is an understood sort of love and affection, respect and caring for each other. It’s not one of those out-there feelings.  

Sometimes, you guys don’t meet for years on end.

I agree, but we’re friends. We don’t feel the need to say this to each other. Before Drishyam, we had not worked with each other for close to 16-17 years. Yet, when we met on set, we connected immediately. Some relationships actually allow you to be real. There is no pretence. When I’m around him, I feel there is a part of my life that is constant. That’s a reassuring thing. All of us are fortunate to have some relationships that don’t change.

Next, we will see you with Salman Khan in Bharat?

Yes (guffaws!) I have a cameo in the film but I can say I have an Eid release (cracks up laughing). Salman is a family friend, another constant factor.

You are very much in the Khan territory now. You are doing a special appearance in Saif Ali Khan’s Jawaani Jaaneman, too.

Yes, it’s an interesting role. It is a fabulous script, most suited for Saif. I can picture him saying some of the lines in the film. I am looking forward to this shooting experience. Saif is someone who has a terrific sense of humour. I just love his wittiness. This movie will also give me a chance to associate with my long-standing friend Jay Shewakramani (Jayu). Jayu and I have been friends since Toh Baat Pakki (2010). He and I are close and we have a larger group. Of course, most of our friends are married and have children, so we have, kind of, disbursed. However, I am happy to be working with him on this film.

Are you reading a lot of scripts? I can see so many on your table.

Yes, I am. But I am not telling you anything more on those because like you put it — I’m in the process of reading them. When the makers and I are ready, you will hear about it (smiles mysteriously).

(tweets @ Meena_Iyer)