Raveena Tandon

Raveena Tandon (born 26 October 1972) is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi films.

She is a recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, two Filmfare Awards and a Filmfare OTT Award.

In 2023, she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian honour.

Tandon was born on 26 October 1972 in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) to filmmaker Ravi Tandon and Veena Tandon.

Tandon is a niece of character actor Mac Mohan and thus a cousin of Manjari Makijany, his daughter.

She has a brother Rajiv Tandon, who was married to actress Rakhee Tandon.

She is also a cousin of actress Kiran Rathod.

Tandon received her education at Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu and attended Mithibai College in Mumbai.

Tandon started her career as a model, but during her internship at Genesis PR, she got her first film offer.

In an interview with Rediff Tandon stated, "I never thought I would become an actress. I was an intern at Genesis PR, helping [ad-man] Prahlad Kakkar, when friends and people around me started complimenting my looks. But [photographer-director] Shantanu Sheorey gave me the first break. He called and said he wanted to shoot with me. That was the time when models were becoming actors. I refused film offers. Prahlad kept saying millions of people are waiting for this chance and you keep refusing it. So I thought there is nothing to lose. Then Patthar Ke Phool happened."

The daughter of director Ravi Tandon, she made her acting debut in the 1991 action film Patthar Ke Phool, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Tandon debuted with the film Patthar Ke Phool (1991) which was a hit; she received the Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year for her performance.

The film resulted in a breakthrough in her film career, and predominantly established her as an overnight star.

In 1992, she starred opposite Sanjay Dutt in Jeena Marna Tere Sang.

The film was her only release of the year, and proved a moderate success.

In 1993, Tandon had seven film releases.

Dramas like Kshatriya and Divya Shakti were moderate successes.

That year, she also starred in her Telugu cinema debut Bangaru Bullodu, which was recorded as a hit at the box office.

Tandon established herself by playing the leading lady in the commercially successful action films Dilwale (1994), Mohra (1994), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), and Ziddi (1997).

She earned a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1994 drama Laadla and in the late 1990s, she collaborated with Govinda in several successful comedies, including Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998), Dulhe Raja (1998) and Anari No.1 (1999).

In 1994, Tandon had success by appearing in ten features: out of which most of them were successful and four films were the amongst one of the highest grossing productions of the year and they were: Mohra, Dilwale, Aatish, and Laadla.

She was nicknamed "Mast Mast Girl" after her performance in song "Tu cheez badi hai mast mast" in film Mohra.

Laadla also earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Her other releases of that year included the thriller Imtihaan with Sunny Deol in lead and Saif Ali Khan and the cult comedy Andaz Apna Apna, the lattermost was a semi hit at the box office upon its release, and was not a major commercial success but has attained a cult status since years.

Her Tamil debut Sadhu, was also a critical and commercial success.

Her another release of the year: Zamane Se Kya Darna was profitable at the ticket window and emerged as a moderate success.

In 1995, she starred with Shah Rukh Khan for the first time in Zamaana Deewana; the film failed to do well.

Her career was back on track with hit films such as Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) and Ziddi (1997) opposite Sunny Deol, become the blockbuster hit of that year and Salaakhen (1998).

She also played against type in the crime dramas Ghulam-E-Mustafa (1997) and Shool (1999).

She also received praise for her performance in Ghulam-E-Mustafa, another hit of the year 1997.

In 1998, Tandon reinforced her status as a leading lady by appearing in two critically and commercially successful productions: Dulhe Raja and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, and both of them proved to be one of the highest-grossing films of the year.

Her last release of that year, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda turned out to be the second biggest hit of the year.

Tandon was offered the second lead in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which went on to be the biggest hit of 1998, but she turned it down.

In the 2000s, Tandon ventured into arthouse cinema with roles in the 2001 films Daman and Aks, both of which garnered her critical acclaim, winning the National Film Award for Best Actress for the former and a Filmfare Special Performance Award for the latter.

Post her marriage with film distributor Anil Thadani, Tandon took a break from films.

Tandon is also an environmentalist and has worked with PETA since 2002.

Tandon has four children, two adopted and two with her husband.

She intermittently appeared on television with shows like the Sahara One drama Sahib Biwi Gulam (2004), the dance reality show Chak De Bachche (2008) and talk shows Isi Ka Naam Zindagi (2012) and Simply Baatien With Raveena (2014).

After several years of hiatus, Tandon starred in the thriller Maatr (2017) and received praise for her leading role in the Netflix crime thriller series Aranyak (2021), winning a Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actress.

Tandon had a supporting role in her highest-grossing release, K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022).