Two-time national award-winning actor Tabu has placed India on the world map of cinema with Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi.

I NEVER SET OUT TO BUILD THIS IMAGE. IT WAS NOT DONE WITH THE PURPOSE OF BEING ‘SOMEONE’

Two-time national award-winning actor Tabu has placed India on the world map of cinema with Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi. It really doesn’t get bigger than this. Here are excerpts from our interview: 

Tabu

Hollywood has warmed up to you. After Mira Nair’s The Namesake, you bagged Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi. Are you excited with the way your career is headed? I did LOP only looking at who Ang Lee is. I did it to be a part of his vision. LOP is the story that it is; it is a book that has been; it’s him, who he has been; the combination is fantastic. 

One hears that the length of your role isn’t substantial… When you are approached for a film like LOP, you only view the big picture. It is an honour to be a part of a project like this without attaching so much significance to how big my role is; or what it is going to give me. The real heroes are the story and the director. Together, they are bigger than any actor. When you sign a project like this, you are part of the fabric that makes this story. I’m not the one who is pulling it along. I’m being utilised in a bigger thing. 

So, the length of a role is not important… You can say that. As I said, the story is the hero of this film, the director is the hero of this film. 

Do you admit you are fortunate to be a part of mainstream Hollywood? Frankly, my head can never be bloated. Maybe, I’m too subjective, so I am not able to be objective about the things that I have done. I cannot look at it from outside. But if I take myself away from it and look at it, it is really fantastic. It’s a matter of pride for me to do things that have such a reach. Films that will always be remembered, not because I’m in it. But because, as films, they will always be remembered. Cinema will always remember Life Of Pi. I am extremely fortunate to have got all these platforms, all these films. To have worked with people, who have contributed to my growth personally and professionally. 

Are you flattered that Ang said ‘Tabu is sublime’? It is a huge honour for me, especially, because it is coming from Ang. When you receive a compliment from someone of his stature and experience, it feels terrific. Ang is someone whose films I have been enamoured with. I’m very fortunate that he thought of me for a role, sitting in another part of the world. 

What next? I don’t know. I want to absorb this experience fully. Also, my next project will be decided on the basis of the kind of work I get. I can only choose from what I am offered. 

Are you a difficult actor to please? I will only get my kind of films, because the signals that I have sent out are strong. I only do work that suits my temperament. I cannot say yes to too many things. I am better off giving attention to one thing at a time.  

 

In your case, because of your repertoire of work, there are many expectations to be met... You can’t meet each and every expectation. Being choosy about the work I do is not a conscious thing. I’m someone who will not greenlight a project unless I’m fully convinced that there is something for me to take back. It can be a big amount of money, or it can be the role and director that I’m kicked about. If I end up liking the 10 films that are offered to me in a year, I may do all 10. However, if I like only one film, in say three years, then I will settle for that one.
    Yes, I’m difficult to convince about a few things, but by and large, if I like something, I will not hesitate. Everyone has their priorities. I never set out to build this image that I have become. It was not done with the purpose of being ‘someone’. I don’t want to carry a film on my shoulders; it just happened that many of the films I’ve done have been like that. There is also a definite amount of pressure that comes with it. I am trying not to become that. I want to break that. 

A lot of people say you are a recluse. I must say it unnerves me when I hear such things. But I also feel that if people want to see more of me, then I must have done something right. Whenever I step out, people ask accusingly, ‘why don’t you do more films’? At least, they are not saying, ‘Tabu, abhi aap shaadi kar ke jao’. They are saying even if you get married, please continue to work. 

Shaadi, relationships... we’re waiting to hear more on that... I am in a good space now to be in a relationship. I know my positives and negatives. I know what makes me happy or sad. After a certain level of maturity, the scope for trial and error is over. Earlier, I was perhaps not in a space to be in relationships; and that is why they didn’t work. But now, the fears and apprehensions have gone. It is like jo hoga dekha jayega. 

Life Of Pi, produced by Fox Star Studios, releases in 3D and 2D on November 23 in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Tabu

Tabu