Raveena Tandon: ‘People thought I was too beautiful to pull off realistic roles'

Raveena Tandon, in a recent interview with IndiaToday.in, discussed how back in the days people thought she was 'too beautiful and glamourous' to carry out realistic roles. She also talked about the support and acceptance from both people and the audience in the past and present empowered her to explore new genres. She also reflected on her fortunate avoidance of being typecast and highlighted the consistent balance in her character portrayals. The actor was recently seen in 'Patna Shuklla'.

Raveena mentioned, “Somewhere along the line, the acceptance from the audience gave me the courage to try and do more and try and push myself as an actor. Even in those days, I had ‘Daman’ releasing simultaneously as ‘Dulhe Raja’. It was a balance between the characters that I played. So, luckily for me, I did not face that hurdle of being stereotyped. But, yes, initially, people thought ‘oh, she looks to beautiful and glamorous. Maybe she will not be able to carry out a realistic role. But I think today, I have successfully jumped past that hurdle and mindset.”

The actor shone bright in the 90s and treaded the fine line between doing commercial and parallel cinema. She is also one of the few actors who has successfully adapted to the new times and has not one but three successfully OTT projects. Be it ‘Aranyak', ‘Karmaa Calling’ or the recently released ‘Patna Shuklla,’ Raveena’s diverse character portrayal is simply amazing. In an exclusive chat with IndiaToday.in, Raveena mentioned that while she has always experimented with genres, she did face a certain stereotype in her early years.

Speaking about it, Raveena told IndiaToday.in, “It’s very easy to play yourself in ever movie and I have seen a lot of my colleagues be comfortable in their own skin and play the kind of roles which are like them. But I cannot do that. I cannot do a project if it doesn’t challenge me enough.” She added, “I did a lot of comedies and powerful cinema in the 90s which also included the dance and sing routine. And now, I feel it is because of the audience’s acceptance that I can pick characters that are strong and unlike me and do justice to them.”

Raveena also shared that she has a lot of exciting projects coming up soon as well. Her daughter, Rasha Thadani, will also be seen making her debut this year in Abhishek Kapoor’s next film. About that, Raveena added that she is excited but cannot share anything more until the release.

‘Patna Shuklla’ sees Raveena play Tanvi Shukla, a lawyer who finds encouragement and will to fight for a cause. The film is available on Disney + Hotstar.