Think Tabu and you remember her stellar performances in Maqbool or Astitva — films that wouldn’t have seemed right without her. But surprisingly, the actress had been advised by producers against doing independent films as they felt she had a thriving career in commercial cinema.

The actress clearly didn’t heed the advice because these films gave her a chance to emotionally express herself as an artiste. “I enjoyed doing films such as Vijaypath but I did not want to let go of meaty roles as well, as later it became my identity as an actor. But I was asked not do it as producers felt that I already had a thriving commercial career. The perception was that when you don’t get success in commercial films, you move towards independent cinema but that was not the case with me,” she told PTI.

Tabu has an enviable body of work in Indian cinema, making her one of the finest actresses of her generation but she singles out Mahesh Manjrekar’s Astitva, Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool and Nishikant Kamat’s Drishyam among her favourites.

The 46-year-old actress said Manjrekar first came to her with a role in Vaastav but she declined it as she thought the part was not meaty enough. “Within a few months he (Manjrekar) came with Astitva and was hopeful that I would not say no to it.” Not many actors get such a chance to play a character like Aditi Pandit, a woman who decided to walk out on her husband after he questions her on her brief affair while dismissing his own extra-marital transgressions, she said.

“It was one of the best experience for me as an actor. It gave me a platform to express myself emotionally so well.”

Tabu feels the 2000 film beautifully encompasses how it is not right to make “blanket statements” on sexual desires of men and women. There are different layers in every relationship, she said, adding that sexuality and desires are relevant even today.

Her character in Maqbool also has sexual undertones. Based on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the film had Tabu playing Nimmi, who uses her charm to get her lover, a notorious underworld don, killed by Maqbool (Irrfan Khan). Tabu says she was bowled over by Bhardwaj’s script and though she did not identify with her role, she took it as the “beginning of a new phase” for her.

“She was crazy, gutsy and a vulnerable woman and we unapologetically showed her lust. I don’t know whether we can label her as strong, weak or negative. I don’t know how I understood her character,” Tabu said.

Drishyam is one of her most recent releases but the film is close to her heart because it gave her a chance to play both a mother and tough cop, Meera Deshmukh. Calling it one of the most difficult characters, she said: “I had a tough time balancing the shades. The beauty lies in the film’s writing.

“My characters have been so complex. I don’t know if they really exist in real life. I am sure there were some impressions that we would see here and there,” she signed off.