Fenil and Bollywood

Tabu

Actresses over the years have felt flattered to play characters much younger than their real age.Years ago Mala Sinha, when she was pushing 40, actually got into a frock to play a school girl in Paisa Ya Pyar. But that’s not the case with Tabu.

38-year-old Tabu, who is playing the character of Tishyarakshitra, Emperor Ashoka’s (played by Amitabh Bachchan) wife in the period film The Legend of Kunal, has refused to be shown younger for certain scenes. Incidentally, Tabu had no qualms about playing a woman at least twice her age in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Astitva (2000).

Chandraprakash Dwivedi, director of The Legend of Kunal elaborated, “Before Tabu said no to looking younger, we had planned to make both Amitji and Tabu lose years on screen. With Amitji, the process of looking younger for the flashback would’ve been much more difficult. But we had consulted make-up artistes from abroad and they had assured us that it could be done. With Tabu, the process would’ve been much easier because she can look like a 20-year-old without prosthetic support. But she refused. ‘Take a younger artiste to play my character’s young portion,’ Tabu suggested. When she opted out, we naturally had to change plans of making Amitji look younger.”

Now Dwivedi is hunting for actors who resemble the Big B and Tabu but are half their age. The director said, “We haven’t found the actors to play the young Amitji and Tabu yet. But we aren’t worried because they occupy a very small portion of the narrative. And also the shooting starts at the end of 2009.”

The Legend of Kunal is a period film which encapsulates the last years of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka’s life and highlights his relationship with his son, Kunal.