Tabassum Hashmi - Tabu - Indian film actress

Tabassum Hashmi (born 4 November 1971, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh), better known as Tabu, is an Indian film actress. She has mainly acted in Hindi films, though she has also starred in numerous Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam,Marathi and Bengali language films, as well as Hollywood films. She has won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice, and she holds the record for the most wins of Filmfare's Critics Award for Best Female Performer, with four.

Despite a few exceptions, Tabu is best known for acting in artistic, low-budget films that go on to garner more critical appreciation than substantial box office figures. Her appearances in commercially successful films were few, and her parts in these films were small, such as Border (1997), Saajan Chale Sasural(1996), Biwi No.1 and Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999). Her most notable performances include Maachis (1996), Virasat (1997), Hu Tu Tu(1999), Astitva (2000), Chandni Bar (2001), Maqbool (2003) and Cheeni Kum(2007). Her leading role in Mira Nair's American film The Namesake also drew major praise.She also co-starred in Ang Lee's film Life of Pi (2012), which was widely acclaimed.

Regarded as one of the most talented Indian female actors of her generation, Tabu is known to be selective about her film roles and has once said, "I do films which move me and most of all, the unit and the director should appeal to me." She was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2011 by the Government of India for her contributions towards the arts.