- Manisha Koirala,Mann, 1998. Apparently not wishing to be compared with their betters, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Nandita Das fled from copying – well, take your pick… Irene Dunne in Love Affair, 1938; Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember, 1956; or Annette Bening in Love Affair, 1994. One silly story insisted that Tabu was dropped for being taller than co-star Aamir Khan. By… two inches. Never bothers Tom Cruise!
- Nandita Das, Pitaah, India, 2002. Tabu signed to play Paro – then didn’t.
- Gracy Singh, Munnabhai MBBS, India, 2003. When Rani Mukherjee had to leave the project, Tabu was asked to play Chinky – but she had to quit, as well. Schedules!
- Preity Zinta, Armaan, India, 2003. For her directing debut, actress-scenarist Honey Irani first asked Tabu to play Sonia Kapoor – not one of the Kapoor acting clan. (Or, not yet).
- Shohreh Aghdashloo, X-Men: The Last Stand, 2005. At 35, Bollywood star Tabu was was in the frame for Dr Kavita Rao -alongside her aunt, Shabana Azmio, 55, a highly respected icon of the Indian New Wave years. The mutant cure scientist was eventually won by the well-named Iranian actress – Shohreh means famous girl in Farsi. She scored 65 (mainly TV) credits during 1976-2020, including 24, House of Saddam, The Simpsons, NCIS, The Mob Doctor, Grimm, Star Trek Beyond and playing Farah Madani, opposite Marvel’s Punisher Jon Bernthal, 2017-2019.
- Lara Dutta, Billu, India, 2009. “No thank you. I don’t want to work with Irrfan Khan.” Much less play his husband. She evidently had not enjoyed their previous three outings: Ghath, 2000; Maqbool, 2003; and Hollywood’s The Namesake, 200
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Tabassum HashmiCasting Calls: 6