Raveena Tandon feels she is in a dream. “I woke up today to the news that I have been awarded the Padma Shri by my Government. I felt all my years of hard work has finally come to fruition. I can’t wait to get back to Mumbai,” she said exclusively to Bollywood Hungama on receiving the honour.
EXCLUSIVE: Raveena Tandon on receiving Padma Shri, “Professionally, what a year it has been for me”
Raveena is in Bhopal attending a wedding. “I woke up on Thursday morning to the good news. My husband (film distributor Anil Thadani) who is in Mumbai had no clue about it. I had to inform him that his wife is now Padma Sri Raveena,” she laughs heartily.
She then grows melancholic. “The past one year has been a whirlwind for me. Professionally, it couldn’t get any better. My web-series Aranyak on Netflix and then the big screen blockbuster KGF 2 where I played one of the protagonists, became huge successes. Sadly, it was also the year that I lost my father (well-known producer-director Ravi Tandon). It was the severest blow of my life. I am still processing the loss. The Padma Shri would have made my Dad so proud.”
Remind her she is still young and already a Padma winner and Raveena expresses her happiness. “I guess I am lucky to have received the honour at the midpoint of my life and career. I am also very happy that MM Keeravani Sir has also received the Padma Shri. His ‘Naatu naatu’ has the world dancing to his tune. But even before ‘Naatu naatu’ he has done such exemplary work.”
Getting nostalgic Raveena says, “I started working when I was 17. I have done every kind of cinema, balancing out a Bade Miyan Chote Miyan with a Shool, a Rakshak with a Ghulam-e-Mustafa, a Bulundi, a Khauff with a Daman and an Aks. It’s always been my endeavour to be seen in escapism and real cinema. Some people think dancing around trees and doing the masala stuff is easy. It is not! In fact, being real on screen is far easier.”
Raveena feels the good days are back in the entertainment industry. “I saw Pathaan and I whistled and clapped the loudest. It is an out-and-out mass entertainer and bound to revive the sagging fortunes of our industry. While the Padma Shri is a personal triumph, the success of Pathaan is a happy occasion for the entire industry. So yeah, I am on top of the world.”
Raveena’s fans would like to know her khubsoorati ka raaz. She laughs, “It’s nothing more than sleeping and eating right. I try to eat correctly. I have only organic food. More importantly, I am happy and secured in life. If you are content within it is bound (to) show on your face.”
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