Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Adaptation: Shakespeare’s Macbeth

This was the film that redefined both actors. Based on Shakespeare’s Scottish play, transposed to the Mumbai underworld, Maqbool cast Irrfan as the brooding, loyal henchman Miyan Maqbool, and Tabu as Nimmi, the mistress of the underworld don (Abbaji). This was their first major screen pairing, and they set the screen on fire with quiet desperation.

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Adaptation: Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Their final film together. Irrfan played Roohdaar (the ghost), a mysterious figure who appears to the protagonist Haider, while Tabu played Ghazala (Gertrude), Haider’s conflicted, sensual mother. Interestingly, they share very little screen time in this film—symbolic and powerful, as if their intense chemistry was too volatile to be contained in a single frame anymore.

(Note: They also had a brief cameo in Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) but did not share scenes.)


Famously, Tabu and Irrfan were supposed to reunite in Angrezi Medium (2020), but Tabu had to exit due to scheduling conflicts. Irrfan passed away during the film’s release. Fans still wonder what magic that final collaboration could have held.