Tabu was born to Jamal Hashmi and Rizwana on 4 November 1970 in Hyderabad, India. She was christened Tabassum Hashmi. Her sister Farha and her aunt Shabana Azmi are well known Bollywood actresses. Tabu did her schooling in St Anne's High School, Hyderabad, India. Later she shifted to Mumbai in 1983 and finished her studies from St Xavier's College, Mumbai, India. Career 1980- 1994 Tabu started her career in the film industry when she was fifteen years old. Before that she also played a small role n the film BAZAAR in 1980. In Hum Naujawan (1985), she played the role of Priya, Dev Anand's daughter. Her first role as an actress was in the Telugu film COOLIE NO 1 (1991). She was also seen in the film MASHOOQ (1992) in a small role. Her first release in Bollywood was Pehla Pehla Pyar (1994) which went unnoticed. The film VIJAYPATH (1994) made her a star overnight. She was starred along with Ajay Devgn and Suresh Oberoi. She played the role of Mohini/ Mona. It was directed by Faroqh Siddique and did very good business at the Box Office. 1995-2010 Tabu was seen in three films in the year 1995. Her film PREM (1995) took eight years in making. It starred Sanjay Kapoor and Deepak Tijori. The film was directed by Satish Kaushik and did poor business at the Box Office. In Saajan Ki Baahon Mein (1995), she played the role of Kavita. She starred along with Rishi Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and Sumeet Saigal. The film was directed by Jay Prakash and did average business at the Box Office. In the film Haqeeqat (1995), she played the role of Sudha Ravi Malhotra. It starred Ajay Devgan, Aruna Irani, Johnny Lever, Himani Shivpuri and Amrish Puri. The film was directed by Sandesh Kohli and was a hit at the Box Office. In 1996, Tabu was seen in six films. In the film Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), she played the role of Divya Khurana,Child Of Eden Will Be Multiplatforms. The film also starred Govinda, Karisma Kapoor and Satish Kaushik. It was directed by David Dhawan and did average business at the Box Office. In the film Kala Pani (1996), she played the role of Parvathi. It starred Mohanlal, Amrish Puri, Prabhu Sreenivasan, Vineeth, Tinnu Anand, Cochin Hanifa,Erotic Beijing Massage, Annu Kapoor, Alex Draper, Nedumudi Venu and Manian Pillai Raju. It was dubbed in Telugu and made in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi. Priyadarshan directed this film and it did good business at the Box Office. In Himmat (1996) she played the role of Anju. Tabu starred along with Sunny Deol,beijing massage service, Shilpa Shetty, Naseeruddin Shah, Sudesh Berry and Gulshan Grover. The film was directed by Sunil Sharma and did good business at the Box Office. In the film Tu Chor Main Sipahi (1996), she played the role of Kajal. It starred Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Pratibha Sinha, Anupam Kher and Amrish Puri. The film was directed by Guddu Dhanoa and did average business at the Box Office. In Jeet (1996), she played the role of Tulsibai. The film starred Sunny Deol, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, Amrish Puri and Alok Nath. It was directed by Raj Kanwar and did good business at the Box Office.