Raveena Tandon (born 26 October 1972) is an Indian actress widely known for her variety of work in Hindi films. She is daughter of director Ravi Tandon. She is a receipient of several awards including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. In 2023 she was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian honour.
She made her acting debut in the 1991 action film Patthar Ke Phool, which won her the Filmfare Award for New Face of the Year. Tandon established herself by playing the leading lady in the commercially successful action dramas 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). She also played against type in the crime dramas Ghulam-E-Mustafa (1997) and Shool (1999).
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 the Filmfare Special Performance Award for the latter. Post her marriage with film distributor Anil Thadani, Tandon took a break from films. 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 appeared in a supporting role in K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022). In 2021, she received praise for starring in the Netflix crime thriller web series Aranyak.
Tandon is also an environmentalist and has worked with PETA since 2002. Tandon has four children, two adopted and two with her husband.
Early life
Tandon was born in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) to 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 Rakhi Tandon. She is also a cousin of actress Kiran Rathod. She started her career as a model.
She received her education at Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu and attended Mithibai College in Mumbai. 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 Prahlad Kakkar, when friends and people around me started complimenting my looks. But 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.
