the taboo She is known for her powerful performances over the years in films like ‘Chandni Bar’, ‘Astitva’ among others, but has also appeared in comedy films among other genres. Since the 90s, the actor has also had several memorable songs. One of her most memorable performances remains Thakshak’s song ‘Rang De’ where her vibrant screen presence and energetic dance moves left a lasting impression on the audience.The iconic track, composed by AR Rahman, penned by Sukhwinder Singh and sung by Asha Bhosle, remains one of the standout Bollywood songs of the late 1990s. Behind the scenes, however, the performance required a lot of work from Tabu, who was determined to become the perfect choreographer. Saroj Khanthey are sharp movements.Dance artiste Rubina Khan, who teamed up with Saroj Khan for the song, recalled Tabu’s dedication in an interview with Bollywood Thikana. “He worked very hard to master the movements. He hardly sat down during the rehearsals. Since his body is a little stiff, he doesn’t have the flexibility needed to master such movements easily. That’s why he worked a lot and showed his skills in the end. We completed the song in 4-5 days”, he said.According to Rubina, Tabu was overjoyed after watching the latest version of the song and expressed his gratitude in a memorable way. “He was so happy that he gifted gold bangles to Saroj Khan. He also gifted one the gold chain to his male attendant and gold bracelet to his female attendant. That was the first time I had ever seen an artist do something like that. He was so happy that he took the dance number off.’Tabu also made sure the background dancers felt appreciated. Rubina explains, “There were about 25-30 women and almost the same number of men. He gave each of us 1,000 rupees. It was such a kind gesture from him.”Rubina spoke about the actor’s compassionate personality, recalling another incident from another shoot related to Kathak choreography. “Once, we were recording a song that had some Kathak movement in it. At one point, we had to turn a certain way and stop in a certain pose. While we were doing it, a girl with us sprained her leg and fell. Tabu immediately stopped. At that moment, we felt that he was no longer a hero, but one of us. He sat down next to the injured dancer, kept his leg in his lap and asked one of the crew to bring him a bandage and medicine.’He added: “When the dancer tried to stop her, saying she would apply them herself, Tabu said, ‘It’s not a problem. Don’t you see me as yours?’ It’s so sweet that way. Although we rarely worked together, he is a person I will never forget.’Directed by Govind Nihalani, Thakshak also starred Ajay Devgn, Rahul Bose, Nethra Raghuraman, Govind Namdeo and Amrish Puri. The film is considered Nihalani’s first foray into mainstream commercial cinema. However, while its music and performances received appreciation, the action drama flopped commercially and earned only 6.52 crores worldwide against a budget of 6.5 crores, according to Box Office India.
