Tabu on her first meeting with Gulzar: ‘I got scared…’

MUMBAI, Jan 11 (Online): Vishal Bhardwaj and his son Aasman Bhardwaj’s Kuttey features an eclectic group of Bollywood talents. At a recent musical event held for the movie, old associates Tabu and Gulzar got chatty about their first meeting. They worked together for the first time in the seminal Maachis in 1997 and Tabu had a wonderful story to share about their first encounter.

Recalling the incident, Tabu said, “Shabana aunty told me Gulzar saab wants to meet you. My first reaction was, ‘Are you sure?’ and she said ‘Haan!’. So I went to Gulzar saab’s house and I was sitting in front of him.” The conditions for their meeting weren’t all ideal. As Tabu recalled, “He was suffering from a cold and I just couldn’t speak, he also didn’t speak much. He gave me the script of Maachis and during those days we would not get scripts. I got scared that I would have to by heart the entire script before I meet him in the next time.”

Eventually, Tabu went back to meet Gulzar again, and the subsequent meeting wasn’t all that different. She revealed, “I went back after two days and sat in front of him I didn’t speak nor did he.” While their verbal exchange was down to a minimum, the understanding was top-notch. Tabu explained, “He would say very few sentences and I would absorb all that. I was much younger, completely mesmerised and overwhelmed by the idea that I would be working with him.”

Gulzar confirmed details of his first meeting with Tabu and said, “I told Shabana, I want to meet Tabu, so she just very firmly said you are not going anywhere she will come to meet you.” Tabu’s first impression was a lasting one. Gulzar conceded, “When she came to meet me, as it is, I wanted a Punjabi girl for my film and here she was, this tall girl who looked my pind di kudi (village belle).”

Tabu managed to win the National Award for Best Actress for her performance in Gulzar’s Maachis. Recalling the feat, Tabu confessed, “I don’t know how I did and what I did, but I managed to do something and got the National Award.”