Raveena Tandon - Biography

Introduction

When we hear about 1990’s Bollywood, few faces come to our mind. The 90s was a different time in India for every sector, everything new was getting introduced to our country and people were getting more and more diverse. There were a lot of new things happening in the entertainment industry too. There were a lot of new actors and singers getting in at that time. Raveena Tandon was also among such actresses that were new in the 90s and they completely blew up to make everyone love them.

Raveena Tandon was the face of Bollywood at that time and she acted in a lot of iconic Bollywood movies and songs. Raveena had a lot of impact on the youth of that time. She co-starred opposite a lot of superstars.

Raveena Tandon debuted in Bollywood in 1991 with a film named Pathar Ke Phool and she started making an impact from the get-go. Raveena Tandon’s career was not only limited to the ’90s. She was also prevalent in the 2000s. She has won a lot of awards and accolades in her career and changed the way actresses are perceived in India.

Personal life and Initial stages

Raveena Tandon was born in 1972 in Mumbai to a film director named Ravi Tandon and his wife Veena Tandon. Raveena has a great family lineage of artists in her family. Her uncle was a famous character actor named Mac Mohan and cousin of Manjari Makijany who is the daughter of Mac Mohan. Raveena also has a sibling named Rajiv Tandon, who is married to an actress named Rakhi Tandon. Raveena initially started her career as a model and then moved up her career to become an actress.

Raveena Tandon did her schooling at Jamnabai Narsee School which is located in Juhu. She is also an alumnus of the famous Mithibai College in Mumbai. Raveena Tandon never thought that she would become an actress, she got her first film offer while she was interning under Prahlad Kakkar in Genesis PR. Shantanu Sheorey, who was a famous photographer-director at that time gave Raveena her first break and she appeared as a model in his shoot.

Raveena Tandon always had the looks of an actor and after her stint as a model, she started getting a lot of offers from various film directors. Initially, she used to reject a lot of offers but she thought that as she had nothing to lose she gave acting a chance.

Career

1990’s: Debut Movie and Breakthrough Phase

Raveena Tandon’s first film was Patthar Ke Phool which got released in 1991 and turned out to be a hit. Raveena’s performance in this movie was notable and was recognized by filmy folks. This film helped her bag Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year.

Raveena Tandon started utilizing her full caliber by 1994 and she starred in various films named Mohra, Dilwale, and Laadla. All these films were commercially hit and they collected a good box office at that time. Raveena was given a new nickname by her fans which was “Mast Mast Girl” because of her famous dance song “Tu cheez Badi hai mast mast”. This song was a part of her film Mohra and it got famous at that time.

Raveena Tandon also starred opposite the superstar of that time Sunny Deol in a thriller film named Imtihaan and opposite Saif Ali Khan in the super hit comedy film Andaz Apna Apna.

Raveena Tandon was a hard-working actress and a talented one. She got the chance to work with one of the biggest superstars in Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan for the first time in 1995. The movie was named Zamaana Deewana. Despite a good star cast the film failed to do well, but it didn’t do any harm to Raveena’s career as she made a powerful comeback with a series of films like Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi in 1996 which was opposite Akshay Kumar, then she appeared in Ziddi in 1997 opposite to Sunny Deol, this film was very successful and it became the biggest hit of that year. She received a lot of praise for a film named Ghulam-E-Mustafa which was also released in 1997.

Raveena Tandon was at the peak of her career by 1998 and she didn’t even try to gear down. She had a whopping number of 8 releases in 1998. She appeared in a film named Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, this film had a very lavish star cast of the legend Amitabh Bachchan and the rockstar Govinda. This movie was her last film of 1998 and it turned out to be the second most successful movie of that year.

Raveena was then offered another huge lead role in the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which was also set to release in 1998. Unfortunately, she declined the role in that film and it turned out to be the most successful movie of 1998. She worked on some other projects too in that year like Gharwali Bahrawali, Vinashak, Pardesi Babu, and Aunty No. 1, all these films turned out to be below-average and unsuccessful.

Raveena Tandon experiment a bit in the year 1999 and it turned out to be good for her. She appeared in a Kannada project named Upendra which was a psychological thriller. She also did a film named Shool which gained her a lot of good reviews from critics.

The 2000s: Recognition by the Critics and Break from Acting

Raveena Tandon started the decade with some exceptional performances in movies like Bulandi in the year 2000 and Aks in 2001. She turned a lot of heads with her new avatar and her exceptional acting skills. The critics got mind-blown and awarded her with raining praises. She won loads of awards for these films and she also bagged the Filmfare Special Performance Award because of her great work in Aks which was directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

Raveena Tandon showed her diverse acting skills and she stepped out of her comfort zone in 2001 when she worked with the director Kalpana Lajmi on a movie that had a strong social message named Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence. Raveena’s role was so exceptional that she was honored with the prestigious National Film Award for Best Actress for it. She played the bold character of a domestically abused Indian housewife and she very realistically showcased the sufferings and trauma that is inflicted upon her by the physically abusive husband.

Raveena Tandon then got the taste for such roles and she started playing such characters very commonly. She was one of the first mainstream artists that normalized doing common roles and showcasing the real skills of an actor. Raveena starred in Satta in 2003 and she appeared in Dobara in 2004. Both of these films were commercially less fruitful, however, they got Raveena a lot of praise again from the critics. The character played by her in the film was a schizophrenic person which was very unique and difficult at that time to pull off, but Raveena did an exceptional job in doing it.

Raveena Tandon then thought of trying something new by working on a television series named Sahib Biwi Gulam on the channel Sahara One. This show was adapted from a famous Bengali novel named Saheb Bibi Golam which was written by Bimal Mitra in 1953. Raveena then worked in a film named Sandwich in 2006, however, it couldn’t work at the box office very well and was a minor setback for Raveena’s career before she took a long break from acting.

The 2010s: Irregularity in movies and Television appearances

Raveena Tandon stopped appearing in movies because of a lot of factors like age, upcoming new actors, marriage, kids, etc. Still, she had set her mark in the show industry by the start of the 2010s which always enabled Raveena to get offers, despite her disinterest in working.

In 2014, Raveena got the opportunity to appear as a judge in a show named CEO’s Got Talent which was featured on CNBC TV18. She judged the show along with other celebrities like Mahesh Bhatt and Raj Nayak.

Raveena Tandon made her grand comeback to Bollywood in 2015. She played the character of a dreamy Jazz Singer/ Performer. The film was named Bombay Velvet and was released by the very talented Anurag Kashyap. Raveena’s role was brief in this film still it was appreciated by a lot of awaiting fans and critics.

Raveena Tandon again came back on the big screen in 2017 to appear as a revenge-seeking mother in an absolute thriller of a movie named Maatr. She plays a powerful character of a mother who seeks revenge for his daughter who gets raped. She was highly praised for her power-packing role and received a lot of critical acclaim.

The 2020s: Debut on OTT platforms and future moves

Raveena Tandon has always been an adaptive and pro-change celebrity. She never fazed out to try new things whether it be movies or songs or TV Shows. In 2021, we saw Raveena Tandon in a completely new avatar when she made her debut on the famous OTT platform, i.e. Netflix. Raveena appeared in a thrilling web series named Aranyak and she received a lot of praise and acclaim for her role.

In 2022. She appeared in KGF: Chapter 2 which is a famous Telugu-Bollywood movie. This movie is an action genre and it is commercially very successful. He played a vital role in the second edition which was released this year. This film became the third highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

By the end of 2022, Raveena Tandon is set to appear in a rom-com opposite Sanjay Dutt. The film is named Ghudchadi and is directed by Binoy Gandhi.

Life outside cinema

Raveena Tandon has been very active outside the film industry and has gone out on various endeavors. In 2003, Raveena was named the chairperson of the prestigious Children’s Film Society of India. However, from 2004 there were a lot of complaints filed by the people that Raveena was not a regular attendee to the meetings and she was unaware of all the activities going on in the organization. So, in 2005 Raveena resigned from the chairperson post of the Children’s Film Society of India.

Raveena Tandon has also been involved in a few legal matters. In 2005, she filed complaints against the matrimonial websites of Shaadi.com and Shaaditimes.com. The reason for her complaints was that these websites were using the picture of Raveena Tandon without proper verification of her knowledge. She also filed a complaint against Satyanet Solutions because this particular website claimed that Raveena and her husband Amit Thadani had met through Satyanet Solutions, which was completely false.

Raveena Tandon also has a soft corner towards animals. In 002, Raveena encouraged People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals by singing a melody for them. Other than her philanthropic works, Raveena has also appeared in numerous advertisements along with John Abraham, Shilpa Shetty, and Amisha Patel. She has also raised her voice against the slaughtering of cows and she has made bold statements against their trade.

Personal Life

Raveena Tandon has always been a caring woman and she embraced the concept of motherhood by adopting two girls in 1995 whose names are Pooja and Chhaya. They were 11 and 8 years old respectively at the time Raveena adopted them and gave them a new home.

Raveena Tandon also dated the famous superstar Akshay Kumar in the late 90s and she made it very public by announcing to the world that he is her boyfriend.

In 2003, Raveena Tandon was working on a film called Stumped and she started dating the director of that movie, i.e. Amit Thadani. She got engaged to him that same year and married him on the 22^nd of February, 2004 in a very lavish manner. Raveena’s wedding took place in Jag Mandir Palace in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The wedding commenced in Punjabi customs.

Raveena Tandon had her first child in 2005, her first child was a daughter, and her name is Rasha. Raveena had her second child, a boy named Ranbirvardhan in 2008.

Awards and Accolades

Raveena Tandon has been a very exceptional and diverse actor all around her career. She has played a lot of challenging and mind-blowing roles. She has entertained a whole generation of movie watchers and critics. Raveena has had 11 wins and 8 nominations all around her career. The list of all these awards and nominations are:

Conclusion

Raveena Tandon has been an inspiration for a lot of people, anyone can pick any aspect of her life and that person will learn something. Raveena was never destined to enter Bollywood or appear in films but when she finally got the break she didn’t back down or took it for granted. She worked hard to become one of the finest actresses of that time and entertained millions of people.

The one thing that we should all learn from Raveena Tandon’s life is that one should never take anything for granted and one should always work hard to make his/ her mark.