Tabu in Manjrekar's next

Many Tabu fans consider her performance in Mahesh Manjrekar’s Astitva to be her finest. It was just a matter of time before the director teamed up again with his favourite actress. Now ten years after Astitva, Tabu is set to reunite with Manjrekar for a powerful unconventional film titled White which takes the theme of a middleclass Indian woman’s right to assert her identity and her sexuality even further than Astitva.
Apparently, in White, the woman not only leaves her uncaring and insensitive husband, but also has an affair with a much younger man.
Manjrekar says, “White takes the story of the Indian middleclass wife, her desires and ambitions much deeper than Astitva. The thought of being able to make this film finally gives me a high as a director.
It is a bolder look at the feelings, dreams and nightmares of an Indian housewife than anything attempted on screen.”
Apparently, when Tabu heard the script, she baulked. Mahesh admits that’s true. “Yes, when I narrated the subject, Tabu was devastated. She asked, ‘Mahesh, would I be able to do this? It is too hard-hitting.’”
But Manjrekar can’t think of any other actor for the part. “It was written with Tabu in mind. As this startling woman who defies every norm of society came to life in my script, I could see Tabu on every page.”
Astitva and now White are not the only two films that Mahesh has made on the theme of adultery, infidelity and a woman’s right to define her own sexual identity. Two of Manjrekar’s films on these themes, It Was Raining That Night with Sushmita Sen and Deh with Jaya Prada, lie unreleased.
Says Manjrekar, “Those were different times. The risks regarding women’s films were harder to take. Today when I’m ready to make White, I’ll make sure the producer believes in what I’m doing
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