Tabu (Hindi: तब्बू, born Tabassum Hashmi Khan(तबस्सुम हाश्मी) on November 4, 1970 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India) is an award-winning Indian actress who has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and American films. She has won the National Film Award for Best Actress twice. She is best known for her critically acclaimed acting in a number of films rather than achieving box office success.

Despite a few exceptions, Tabu is known best for her willingness to play characters in artistic, low-budget films that go on to garner more critical appreciation than they do substantial box office figures such as in Maqbool (2003), Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (2004) or The Namesake (2007). Known to be selective on her film roles, she has said, “I do films which move me and most of all, the unit and the director should appeal to me.”[1

Tabu was born in Hyderabad. Soon after, her parents divorced. Her mother was a school teacher and her maternal grandparents were retired professors who ran a school. Her grandfather, Mohammed Ahsan was a Mathematics professor and her grandmother was an English Literature professor. she also went to St. Anns high school in Hyderabad. Tabu moved to Mumbai in 1983 and studied at St. Xavier's College for two years.[2]

She is the niece of Shabana Azmi and the younger sister of actress Farha Naaz. She has homes in Mumbai and Hyderabad.[3]