"Boyfriends come and go, but Nagarjuna remains" - Tabu 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, March 14, 2007 - 05:19 IST
This Sunday, catch the Director-actor duo of ‘Namesake’, Tabu and Mira Nair along with the world famous choreographer Farah Khan on March 18th at 9 p.m.
exclusively on ‘Koffee with Karan’ on Star One and Star World
Excerpts from the interview:
My first guest tonight is one of the finest actors this generation has seen ..she is all heart and her performances are all soul… she began her career in main stream and then made a wonderful name for herself in alternative cinema ..but to slot her would be undermining her body of work .. please welcome the very talented Tabu ..
Karan: You have been in this industry for how long Tabu?
Tabu: 18 or 19 years
Karan: Any regrets ?
Tabu: Lots .. but it will really take a while if I start discussing it ..
Karan: Professionally or personally
Tabu: Ahh ...personally more I think .. but, actually having said that I wouldn't look at them as regrets .. and more as a learning experience .. but, I wish I hadn’t
met a few people I had met .. which I would not want to name ...
Karan: When you did Namesake .. while you were filming it ..with all the appreciation you received .. you traveled to all the films festivals ..is there any
kind of a Hollywood aspiration?
Tabu: I know I am not going to get the kind of roles that Julia Roberts gets ..I feel we should get real about what we can do there and what we definitely
cannot.. how much we can reach and how much we can not .. once you have that clear in your head ..and I have that very clear in my head .. see Namesake is
about Indians, it is about an Indian family, though it’s an out and out American film, but it is about Indians and you cannot cast an American, but not many American films
are made that are about Indians or have important characters who are Indians or Asians.
Mira: I mean .. the world is changing so much ..audiences are going for multiplicity ..
Karan: Do you some times feel that you know .. you make these international films .. but you are not doing anything for India? Do you ever feel the need to
come back and do a full Hindi picture ?
Mira: You know, my theory is .. I don’t do anything that any one else does better than me ..laughs .. and you do it better than me .. So, I mean I am not here to
imitate ..
Karan: When you hear of other film makers like Gurinder Chadha, or Deepa Mehta and the work they do .. do you feel happy to be put in that bracket or
offended?
Mira: Well, I had to introduce Gurinder once and I said welcome to Charlie’s Angels of Punjabis, because we are weirdly enough three Punjabi ladies .. I love certain
aspects of their work ..I love the sass, the humor of Gurinder's especially, and I think the last film that Deepa made -Water was certainly her best film, but you know
sometimes we are just lumped together because we are three brown women who make International films. I don’t think our work is that related to each other
Karan: Do you sometimes feel that you are such a great actor and you have done some amazing work..and in fact I keep telling you this that critics awards should be globally called the Tabu awards, because you keep winning them ..year after year .. do you feel you have got your due from the industry?
Tabu: Yes I have
Karan: You don’t feel that they have undervalued you?
Tabu: No .. I don’t think so at all ..After Prem I thought I should just go back and study ..But I didn’t.. I stayed on and it kept getting better for me .. for me everything is like a bonus ..
Karan: I think you are just undervaluing yourself .. is it a case of low self esteem or just modesty ..
Tabu: Terrible low self esteem
Karan: Is that a problem
Tabu: Huge problem
Karan: But why .. have you seen your own performances
Tabu: I prefer not to
Karan: Sometimes I feel there is a mild irritation .. like some of these Directors they say they want to work with you and then they go and sign an exotic specimen .. it’s your quote ..
Tabu: Oh my God .. I said that ..
Karan: Ya.. you said that they sign an exotic specimen .. I found that quite entertaining .. that’s why I sensed that there might be some kind of irritation ..in fact even me .. I have always told you how fantastic you are .. but we have never worked together ..
Tabu: But you offered me your first film ...
Karan: Yes, that we won’t get into .. you never called me back .. I offered you Rani's role ..I never got a call back ..
Tabu: Shut up ...That’s why you have never taken me in your movies ..
Karan: No, that’s not true ..and then you do a mainstream film like Fanaa where you are completely wasted ..you are too talented for that kind of a role .. when that happens how does it feel?
Tabu: Ahh .. I don’t feel I was wasted or anything because I knew what I was getting into ..I didn’t expect to steel the film from anybody ..
Karan: laughs
Tabu: So ..It was ok with me
Karan: You may not have contributed much to Fanaa my dear but you have contributed to Namesake tremendously which is releasing soon .. It is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen .. even beyond the book and I think you are spectacular in the film ..and I am not saying this because you are on the show ..but you are just fantastic
Tabu: Thank you
As an Indian I am proud of her .. As a film maker I am proud of her and as a talk show host I cant wait to have coffee with her .. please welcome the international celebrated film maker and the big name behind Namesake .. Mira Nair ..
Karan: You have made such a beautiful film ..
Mira: Firstly .. Jhumpa ..the mother of the film .. the mother of the book and then this extra ordinary cast .. from Irfan and Tabu ...
Karan: I think I am wholly and solely responsible for Tabu being in this film ..
Mira: Are you ?
Karan: Yes ..in a certain sense .. because I know Rani and Abhishek were the first members of the cast .. you were first thinking of them ..and because they were attached to my film .. they had the date crisis ..
Mira: Alright ..
Karan: But I believe and even Rani would agree with that Tabu has done a brilliant job and nobody could have done it better ..But, what were you thinking .. why you wanted to cast Rani Mukherjee?
Mira: I always was thinking Bengali and that’s why I wasn’t thinking of Tabu first ..
Tabu: Actually nobody in the cast is Bengali know ..
Mira: Don’t say that too loudly ..laughs ..
Mira: I mean .. the world is changing so much ..audiences are going for multiplicity ..
Karan: And on the other hand you are constantly called the younger Shabana Azmi?
Mira: Is she?
Tabu: laughs
Karan: Now Shabana Azmi is family to you .. do you enjoy this .. or do you feel you are lumped with this responsibility, how do you react to that?
Tabu: I think I am a responsibility on her .. she's not a responsibility on me .. anything I do is going to affect her.. so she must be praying that hope she doesn’t do any serious mistakes
Karan: So, are you seeing anyone Tabu?
Tabu: I am not
Karan: Are you single?
Tabu: Totally
Karan: Should I press this (presses the lio meter).. Are you really single ?
Tabu: I am
Karan: Mustn’t lie to me Tabu?
Tabu: I am honestly .. I swear to God . I am single
Mira: Are you seeing anyone Karan?
Karan: I am not Mira .. but you are totally single .. with all these alleged rumors of men who live in the southern party of the country .. not true ?
Tabu: It’s a very big territory .. you have to tell me
Karan: Oh so you want me to tell Tamil Nadu, Karnataka .. you want me to be that specific
Tabu: Ya .. see I have done films in many languages .. so you need to be specific about the language
Karan: So, we don’t seem to getting anywhere
Tabu: So, what were you asking about Nagarjuna
Karan: I didn’t even say Nagarjuna
Tabu: Because it is the only rumor, which is constant in my life, since I am 16 year old
Karan: You moved to Hyderabad
Tabu: Not because of him, because I have made a house for myself there and because I belong to Hyderabad.. I think this Nagarjuna thing is very old. It keeps coming back… that’s why I always wonder .. it feels like the media wants to give this impression that whether I have boy friends or not, boy friends come, boy friends go, but Nagarjuna remains. so it’s really funny .. I don’t know what to say but, he is one of the closest people in my life, he is one of the most important relationships I have and my relationship with him is very dear to me and also nothing can ever change or alter my relation with him and that I don’t have any label for it. I can’t do anything about it.
Karan: You can call it a friendship
Tabu: I think friendship is the most abused word
Karan: So, we will just keep it to that
Karan: We are happy to welcome the controversial rapid fire queen of last season.. Farah Khan .. She got into a lot of trouble last time
Farah: I have to tell you this hamper is definitely not worth the trouble you get into
Karan: But tell them how much you loved Namesake
Farah: The movie is wonderful and I don’t know how you could have thought of casting anybody else but Tabu .. for me Tabu and Irfan just live the movie and Tabu she doesn’t surprise me any more .. because I was there when she won her first National award and I took lot of credit for that .. and I was there when she won the second one and I am sure I will be there when she wins the Oscar
Karan: And you worked with Mira in Vanity Fair
Farah: Of course .. And Monsoon Wedding my claim to international Cinema
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Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu team up for Cheeni Kum
