Sometimes, you get a hundred offers and not one feels right,’ Tabu on choosing her project in the October Femina Cover Story
India, 7th oct 2025: Tabu, the embodiment of grace and fearless artistry, graces the cover of Femina, offering readers an intimate glimpse into her thoughtful, discerning world. Celebrated for her transformative performances in films like Maqbool, Cheeni Kum, Haider, Drishyam, and Crew, she has established a unique space in Indian cinema with her impeccable range and unwavering dedication to her craft. From emotionally intense roles to effortless comic timing, her choices have continually challenged conventions and inspired audiences.
In a candid and heartfelt conversation with Femina, Tabu opens up about the decisions that have shaped her career, her approach to storytelling, and why trusting her instincts has always mattered more than following the crowd.
She reflects on how much her career has been defined not just by the roles she has embraced, but also by the ones she has declined. “I must have rejected 37 shows,” she admits with a laugh, clarifying, “Thirty-seven is just a number I say jokingly, but I really have turned down many, many offers.”
Reflecting on the labels often attached to her, she says, “I don’t know if I agree with them or don’t agree with them. They’re just people’s impressions. And you are different things to different people. I am something to my mother, I’m something else to my friends, and something else to the media. Somebody must have felt that about me once, and then others kept repeating it. Journalists enjoy using these words because they don’t want to find new ones.”
She explains her choices are guided by trust in the director, “Honestly, it’s the director. The director makes all the difference. It depends on who’s directing and whether I trust them or not.”
On the flood of opportunities actors face today, she reflects, “The volume of work that comes in is huge, but nothing is really making me say, ‘oh yes’. Sometimes, you get five good films at once, and you want to do all five. Sometimes, you get a hundred offers and not one feels right. Then you don’t do any.”
For Tabu, the deciding factor in any project is always the substance behind it. “As you grow in your craft, in your profession, there are so many factors. If the most important ones are not ticked, then there’s no point…The entire process of making a film has become very exhausting and drawn-out. Too much mehnat, too many people involved, too much hullabaloo over the wrong things. I don’t feel the need to be part of it unless I’m gaining something much bigger than all that mehnat.”
Even when it comes to watching films, Tabu approaches it with the same selectiveness, “For me, real movie watching is in a theatre. Popcorn, chai, a blanket, darkness, loudspeakers, that’s when I really watch… I can’t watch everything. Sometimes, I enjoy it; sometimes, I lose interest. Sometimes, I get tired. Sometimes, I get dizzy.”
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