People think I don’t laugh-Tabu

Tabu on playing serious roles and the perception that she reads books and listens to ghazals all day...
Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; January 14, 2016)


Have you read Great Expectations?
No, I haven’t read the book at all! Actually, I haven’t read too many books in life. Though people think that I am someone who will be reading Shakespeare even on a treadmill, I am not so fond of reading as a habit. I have read a few classics even though I was not a literature student. But of course, I did see the screen version many years ago. But I didn’t want to revisit it after I signed up for this film. For me, the relationship is between the script, the director and me.

You are choosy, but you said yes to Fitoor in just two days!
There was no conflict, no reason to debate with myself whether I should be doing this film or not. Everything was positive for the film. Whether it’s the role, the project in totality, the director, the other star cast — I could not have asked for a better mix of everything.

Also, you know Abhishek Kapoor for years now…
I have known him since we were 16 or 17. Though as a director, he is a completely different person (laughs) I loved Kai Po Che, I remember I called him after I saw the film. I feel he’s one of the most talented filmmakers we have today. He is someone born to create great cinema on celluloid.

Does it ever get awkward, being directed by a close friend?
Depends on the kind of person he/she is and depends on your friendship. Actually, it depends on the dynamics that work brings out in the two of you. Work is always a different space for everyone. Also, somewhere you have to strike a balance. You don’t want to step into someone’s creative space just because they are your friends and they shouldn’t do that to you either. Whereas, having a friend as your director would only mean you have great comfort to say or discuss things that you probably would not be comfortable discussing with someone else.

At a time when heroines don’t like playing older characters, you are playing mothers’ roles (Haider and now Fitoor)…
(Cuts in) I don’t think that applies to me a lot because at one point, I was the only person doing that. I did Astitva when I was 25 or 26.

Do you think you are setting an example and more heroines will take up such roles?
I can’t talk for other actresses. What they should be doing or not doing is something which they can possibly think about. I don’t know what drove me to pick such roles. Not that I wanted to break that whole stereotype. At that time, I just thought it would be a great role and platform for me to explore and express myself and my talent. And I did it. I only wanted to do things my way, I wanted to have my own place here and I was discovering myself through work which is why I tried doing everything. I never had any judgment or hang-up on a particular kind of film. Whichever film was giving me that space and platform, I was happily taking them up

Is it a conscious move to pick off-beat roles?
Not really. I am saying yes to projects which appeal to me. Consciously, you can want to or plan to do many things. But not necessarily, that will happen for you. The only conscious move is about saying yes or no to a particular film. At least it looks like a consciously taken decision. But when a project comes, you think, ‘what’s the takeaway for me’ and ‘how much do I need to invest myself for it’. These are pertinent questions. I weigh the pros and cons. As you grow, your priorities change, your barometers change. Ten years back, the things that would have driven me to do a film aren’t the same anymore. Same goes for films which I might have said no to pehle but today, I might feel, Haan yaar, kar lete hai.

Do you veer towards such layered characters?
I think people veer towards layered characters. Mere veer karne se kuch nahi hoga, I choose what’s coming to me. When there’s a layered, dark role, the makers feel ‘Chalo, Tabu ke paas chalte hain (laughs). That has become their thing which is great because it utilises me that much more. I love to do roles that are not layered also and just be one-dimensional. Phir bhi, mujhe lagta hai mere face mein kuch expression hai that people say aapke character mein bahut layers the.

Haider, Drishyam and now Fitoor all had you in grey shades back to back. Do you love watching grey characters yourself on screen?
Grey or not, all of us get engaged only when there are a lot of emotions on screen. In theatre too, drama is what moves us, touches us, makes us feel or think. Most of us react and connect to that in some way. Obviously, on screen, what I love watching is drama. Apart from comedies which I absolutely love. I can watch one comedy film over and over again, roll and laugh every time. Laughter and drama engages you. Audiences keep waiting to know what’s going to happen next. That’s the mystery I like watching and maybe creating on screen with my performances.

But that’s an image created for you on screen which is diametrically opposite to who you are in real..
People think I don’t laugh! (smiles). They feel that I only sit and read books and listen to ghazals. People have come and told me that they are scared of me. I am like ‘Why are you scared?’ I guess it’s the roles and the movies that I have been a part of. But then again, it’s a lesson for everybody that the characters from movies may not necessarily be that divorced from you in real but there’re bigger possibilities of them being completely away from your actual self.

You overshadowed everyone with Haider and then Drishyam. The trailer of Fitoor hints that the same might happen again…
It’s a huge compliment but I want to clarify something. I have never set out to shoot with that intention — thinking I will overshadow everyone else. But with films like Haider, like you have said and other reviews also said, people were fondly talking about my character and that was my biggest victory. When people asked me if I was expecting that to happen, I told them I wasn’t. I didn’t lie. I knew it will make an impact because it’s something really different but I never thought that it will be called my film or that she has taken away the film or that the film should have been called Ghazala. But in Fitoor, I had some amazing people to work with. And I’m sure you will love everyone’s work.

You came in after Rekha left the film. Do you regret that despite giving your best shot, you will always be termed as a ‘replacement’?
Actually, there’s a long story to this and I don’t want to comment but Gattu will be the best person to answer this. Gattu had spoken to me many years back about this film when there was nothing and somehow it didn’t work out. Then maybe it’s destiny that I was brought in for the same role he had approached me for years ago. Whatever has happened doesn’t really matter. Rekhaji looks at me like her own child and I am totally okay with this. I have worn some beautiful clothes in the film, thanks to her. They are the same clothes that she wore when she was shooting for the film. She has designed them herself. What is more important is what’s happening now rather than what has been, what could have been or what happened.

Have you seen any of Rekha’s scenes from the film?
No, I have seen nothing of the film yet. Not of me, not of Rekhaji. Gattu gave me two days to get into this film. It was the most bizarre way that I have ever started to shoot a film. Especially when the scale of the film is like this and there’s this character which is so complex. Apart from that, there have been so many physicalities that had to be worked out which were looking impossible to be achieved in two days. So when people ask me how I said yes in two days, the reality is, I already knew the character he had planned in his head. I knew he was going to put an emotional angle to his version of Miss Havisham. It could not just be that. Of course, the germ is from that but Gattu makes it more dramatic, more emotional with a back story.