Tabu opens up on the limited opportunities for women in comedy roles

Veteran Bollywood actress Tabu, known for her versatile acting, has shed light on the scarcity of comedy roles for women in the film industry.

In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, the actress, who will be seen in Vishal Bhardwaj's upcoming film "Khufiya" alongside Wamiqa Gabbi and Ali Fazal, discussed her relatively limited involvement in comedy films, emphasising the shortage of such films compared to other genres.

Tabu expressed her views, saying, "To begin with, I don't think we have so many films in that genre being made every day. So the ratio of a comic film, as compared to other kinds of genres, is far less. Any actor is always going to be doing fewer comic roles and comedy films as opposed to the other, right? Because the space is too limited. So, I don't know if so many characters like these are written for women. But these characters are not to be seen generally in cinema, like in life."

She continued, "I don't know if we associate women with comedy or fun or that so much now. Because there are a lot of women out there who are also making you laugh, but I don't think it was really that till recently. There were not a lot of women who could make you laugh, and there were not a lot of people who could think about women in that spirit."

Vishal Bhardwaj, the director of "Khufiya," acknowledged Tabu's comedic talent and shared, "Tabu is very funny; people don't know, right? And she's the most funny when she's angry."

In an interview with Pinkvilla, Vishal Bhardwaj confirmed that he often envisions Tabu in his scripts, explaining, "Yeah of course, jaise main aapko batau ke Maine abhi ek novel padha, to wo novel mujhe padhte hue, bada khoobsoorat novel hai Ret Samadhi. (I recently read this beautiful novel called Ret Samadhi). To wo padhte hue mujhe laga ki (and while reading it I realised) the only person who can play this part is Tabu."

"Khufiya" is set to premiere on Netflix on October 5 and features a talented cast, including Ali Fazal, Wamiqa Gabbi, Ashish Vidyarthi, and Azmeri Haque Badhon.