National Award-winning actress Tabu believes in living with her fame and says that one can’t just detach from it because fame becomes a part of one’s personality.

“It is a way of life. You are a famous person when you are at home. You can’t stop being famous. So, you don’t have to deliberately detach from that because that will always be part of you,” Tabu told IANS when asked about how she handles fame.

“If you can look at it as an advantage and use it well, and apply it well, it is great. I don’t know if it is okay to become ‘fame’. I am famous and I have become fame are two different things. Fame will only come because of my work. For me, it was always important to focus on work rather than on how famous I am.

“It is easy to get trapped into external gratification, but I don’t think it is a healthy trap to be,” she added.

Tabu is known for projects such as “Maachis”, “Astitva”, “Haider”, “Drishyam”, “Cheeni Kum”, “Golmaal Again”, “De De Pyaar De”, “Bharat” and “Andhadhun”.

She will next be seen in the coming-of-age story “Jawaani Jaaneman” along with Saif Ali Khan. She is also preparing for a comeback in Telugu films after a decade, with Allu Arjun’s yet-untitled upcoming project.

Acclaimed actress Tabu says she enjoys essaying strong women characters on screen but she doesn’t want to limit herself in the formula of “women-oriented” movie.

She feels taking the responsibility of a whole film could affect her creative mind. So, she is cautious with her choice at this point of her career.

As ‘women-oriented’ films are changing the narrative of new age Indian cinema, why has she not appeared in such films in recent times? Tabu said: “Now, taking a decision on films is not that black and white like earlier.

“In the beginning of my career, I have done many films where the tag of ‘women-oriented’ film was not there… I chose the films because the character was substantial.

“Now, if producers and directors are coming to me with the formula of ‘women-oriented’ films, with the idea of putting the responsibility of a film on my shoulder, I do not want to get stuck in there.

“The focus should be on my work, as in on my performance, not that I sell in this category of film.”

Starting her career in 1980 with “Bazaar” with a small part, Tabu shared screen space with the iconic Dev Anand in “Hum Naujawan”. She also acted in films like “Vijaypath”, “Maachis”, “Kalapani”, “Border”, “Chandni Bar”, “Maqbool”, “The Namesake”, “Life of Pi”, “Haider” and “Fitoor”. The actress has bagged six National Awards and received Padma Shri in 2011.

Asked if she ever gets a hangover of her character off the camera, Tabu said: “Well, yes. But the intensity depends on how much that character has impacted your mind. When I play a character, physically and mentally I go through a process. So it is obvious to get impacted.

“But some characters just stay back for long in my system. Like the one from ‘Hu Tu Tu’. That character was poles apart of who I am. It was grey and later, it becomes totally dark.

“Then, my characters in ‘Maqbool’, ‘Haider’ or ‘The Namesake’… Those were so larger than life that they shook your equilibrium.”

But Tabu insists she is fun loving and always keen to explore the genre of comedy films. After her latest “Golmaal Again”, she will be seen in Luv Ranjan’s upcoming rom-com alongside Ajay Devgn.

Asked about her opinion on the comedy genre not being taken seriously in filmmaking, she said: “Yes, comedy is a genre has been taken with a pinch of salt and it is good. You cannot take every genre of films so seriously.

“In fact, I think that is what reflects life… We should take life with a pinch of salt, you cannot be serious all the time, you need a break from a drudgery of life at times.”