She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for playing a young woman affected by the Punjab insurgency in the political thriller Maachis (1996).

Her biggest commercial successes in India came with the comedies Golmaal Again (2017), Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022)—for which she earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics)—and Crew (2024), the action drama Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), and the crime thrillers Andhadhun (2018) and Drishyam 2 (2022).

[26] However, a turning point in her career came with action film Vijaypath (1994) opposite Ajay Devgn, for which she received the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

In the following year, significant appearances for Tabu included her role in the box-office success Haqeeqat and the romantic drama film Saajan Ki Baahon Mein alongside Rishi Kapoor and Raveena Tandon.

[32][33] Tabu considered the film a turning point in her career, as it helped her recognise her potential as an actress despite her initial hesitation in accepting the role due to its serious subject matter.

[41] She followed this with a role in Mani Ratnam's Tamil political drama Iruvar, which had an ensemble cast consisting of Mohanlal, Aishwarya Rai, Prakash Raj and Gautami.

[51][52][53][54] Tabu's Malayalam release, the action thriller Cover Story, featured her alongside Suresh Gopi and received positive reviews from critics.

Following a brief hiatus, which she attributed to being meticulous in her film selection, Tabu starred in Toh Baat Pakki!, a romantic comedy about a woman searching for a husband for her sister (played by Yuvika Chaudhary).

[70][71] The film was widely panned by critics, with Raja Sen of Rediff.com calling it a "bland, preposterously dated 'comedy'" and pointing out that Tabu's poorly written character limited her performance.

[72] She next starred opposite Sunny Deol as a CBI officer investigating the murder of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the action drama Khuda Kasam.

[78] Tabu's sole release of 2013 was in Bejoy Nambiar's Hindi-Tamil bilingual crime thriller David co-starring Vikram and Neil Nitin Mukesh; the film failed at the box-office.

[79] Keen to take on a light-hearted role, Tabu returned to commercial cinema with the Salman Khan-starrer Jai Ho (2014), a remake of the Telugu film Stalin (2006).

[87][88] Both Rachel Saltz of The New York Times and Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter concurred that Tabu overshadowed the rest of the cast with her performance.

[91] Tabu continued to receive critical acclaim with her next venture, Drishyam (2015), in which she portrayed Meera, a police officer investigating the murder of her son.

[93] Writing for Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath wrote that Tabu's "raspy voice and impassive face convey the systemic obduracy that Meera Deshmukh represents".

[96][97] Fitoor—the Hindi adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations—was Tabu's sole release of 2016 alongside Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur.

[104] Her portrayal of a ghostbuster drew praise from critics with The Indian Express' Shubhra Gupta writing that "her inclusion to the film is an unexpected pleasure".

[113][114] Critic Rajeev Masand lauded Tabu as "the film's towering performance" and reviewers for Reuters and Hindustan Times commended her capabilities as the femme fatale.

[121] She ended the year with a brief role as the missing younger sister of Salman Khan's character in Ali Abbas Zafar's partition drama Bharat.

Tabu then returned to Telugu cinema after a decade, appearing in Trivikram Srinivas' Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), as the mother of Allu Arjun's character.

[124][125][126] She followed this with both her television and streaming foray as Saeeda Begum, a ghazal singer who engages in a relationship with a younger man (played by Ishaan Khatter) in Nair's post-partition drama A Suitable Boy.

[130][131]In the spiritual sequel Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022), Tabu received critical acclaim for her dual role as twin sisters seeking vengeance against each other.

[137] Archika Khurana of The Times of India described her as "simply outstanding", and WION's Shomini Sen appreciated her for subtly complementing Devgn's performance.

[144] In her mixed review of the film, Monika Rawal Kukreja felt that Tabu had not been given adequate scope to perform as she is "made to disappear as Devgn takes spotlight while fighting the bad guys".

[152] Tabu returned to commercial cinema in 2024 alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon in the female-led heist comedy Crew, in which the trio played flight attendants.

[156] She next reunited with Devgn for their tenth collaboration in Neeraj Pandey's Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, a romantic thriller about a married woman who rekindles a relationship with her incarcerated former lover.

[162][163] Praising her styling and look in the series, Mini Anthikad Chhibber of The Hindu remarked that "Tabu does what she can with her thinly written character", and The Hindustan Times's Abhimanyu Mathur compared her performance unfavourably to those of her other English-language roles in Life of Pi and The Namesake.

India Today observes that Tabu's "uncontrived freshness" and "mobile face" have made her a favourite in Bollywood, with her performances showcasing "a considerable range".

[169] According to Forbes, Tabu portrayed strong, women-oriented characters long before such roles were labelled "game-changers,"[14] while Vogue highlights her ability to deliver "non-stop stellar and heart-swooning performances.

[188] Although Tabu was acquitted in the blackbuck poaching case on 5 April 2018,[189] the Rajasthan High Court issued her with a notice, challenging her acquittal on 11 March 2019.