Tabassum Hashmi Khan better known as Tabu is a national award-winning actress of the Indian film industry. Tabu has acted in many in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and American films. She is considered as one of the finest and versatile actors working in the Indian film industry. Tabu is better known for her critically acclaimed performance rather than being successful at the box office. Tabu was born in Hyderabad and her elder sister Farha Naaz has also remained a popular actress of Indian films of her times. This versatile actress began her career at the age of fifteen with the film ‘Hum Naujawan’, where she played the daughter of Dev Anand. The film ‘Vijaypath’ where she was paired opposite Ajay Devgan won her, her first award ‘Filmfare Best Debut Female’.
The year 1996 saw Tabu’s eight releases out of which two films namely ‘Sajaan Chale Sasural’ and ‘Jeet’ became hits. Her other significant release was ‘Maachis’ where she portrayed the role of a Punjabi woman who is caught in the rise of Sikh insurgency. The film was critically acclaimed and she won her first ‘Natinal Award’ in the ‘Best Actress’ category. The film ‘Astitva’ which was directed by Mahesh Manjrekar established Tabu as a powerful and versatile actress of the country and even won the ‘Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance’. In 2001 came ‘Chadni Bar’ directed by Madhur Bhandarkar where Tabu portrayed a bar dancer. Her extraordinary performance in the movie fetched her the second ‘National Award’ in the ‘Best Actress’ category.