Tabu interview on ‘Crew’ and box office success: This is a great phase to be in

Tabu interview on ‘Crew’ and box office success: As her latest Bollywood outing breaches the ₹100 crore mark, Tabu opens up about her work and staying relevant to audiences

The Hindi heist comedyCrew, which breached the ₹100 crore mark at the box office recently, dispelled notions that post pandemic, only male-centric action dramas could rake in big numbers.

Standing tall at the centre of the film’s success is actor Tabu, who shared the screen with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon in director Rajesh Krishnan’s film produced by Rhea Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. “The film had several elements that the audience enjoyed and while working on it, I believed it would do good numbers,” says Tabu.

She should know. Crew is the latest in her series of hits, after Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Drishyam 2. She also played the central parts in Kuttey, Bholaa and the Netflix original film, Khufiya. At 52, the actor is quietly showing how a female actor can be age and generation agnostic, and call the shots.

Tell her that a few trade pundits have pointed out that she is the only actor, apart from Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, to have delivered more than two hits post pandemic and she guffaws, “So I have now become a hero?”

She then pauses and says, “Honestly, this is a good chapter in my career; I am happy and grateful that people are coming to theatres and watching my films. A film is a combination of aspects — it is never only the script, the director or the actors. Everything has to work; if we give the audience something new, they will accept it in any genre and language.”

The last decade has seen Tabu reinventing herself. Post director Vishal Bhardwaj’s acclaimed Haider, in which she delivered a sublime performance, the more mainstream films such as Drishyam, Andhadhun and De De Pyaar De, among others, saw her frequently courting box office success. 

Tabu remembers the conversations during lockdowns when the film industry wondered if the audience would frequent theatres again, after being habituated to consuming series and films on digital platforms. “People were making assumptions overnight and it annoyed me. One school of thought became so infectious that the entire film industry began to echo it. I used to wonder if I am the only one who does not agree with their notion.”