India FM

Aug 14:  It's confirmed. Mira Nair is all set to push Tabu's name for an Oscar nomination this year. Says a source close to the project, "Mira is definitely going to project Tabu as a potential best actress at the Oscars. Though Irrfan Khan is as good, if not better the focus of Mira's Oscar campaign for her masterly study of the Indian diaspora is likely to be predominantly Tabu."

Continues the source, "Irrfan is excellent. But he lacks what the Americans are looking for in their Oscars recipe. Tabu is exotic, glamorous and mysterious. This is her first real exposure to the Western audience. And they're lapping up her utterly –butterly Bengali act, thick accent and all. On top of that she's also wowing the westerners with her performance in Cheeni Kum."

Will Tabu be the first Indian actor to win an Oscar? "Why not?" says Mira's creative compatriot Deepa Mehta. "She's amazingly good, on a par with any of her Western counterparts."

Six years ago Deepa had offered Tabu the lead in her richly lauded Water. The deal fell apart. A lot of global cineastes feel Mira's Namesake would do for Tabu what Deepa's Water couldn’t. Tabu herself remains supremely indifferent to recognition, at home or abroad.