Raveena Tandon: What’s the secret of those gorgeous looks?

From among her generation of actresses, Raveena Tandon Thadani is the one who got away. While Tabu and Karisma are still looking for love Raveena is happily settled in matrimony with Anil Thadani. Before Thadani, Raveena dated some really wrong guys one of whom, now “happily” married, two-timed and three-timed her, right under her nose. She has moved ahead of all her hurt.

Ironically her prosperous producer-director father Ravi Tandon made a conscious decision to not launch Raveena ’s film career: he chose to launch his son, Raveena’s brother Rajeev in the disastrous E_k Main Aur Ek Tu_. Raveena made up her mind to become an actress very early in her life, at age 15. However unlike other star children she did not get a launch by her filmmaker dad the very successful Ravi Tandon who had produced a slew of hits in the 1970s. When it came to his own daughter Ravi Tandon moved back gracefully. Both Raveena and her father were very clear on this: she would make it on her own. Raveena’s first film Patthar Ke Phool came her way independently…no family recommendation, no sifarish. During her busiest phase in the 1990s Raveena would shoot for 4-5 films simultaneously. She took a conscious decision to cut down on her work. Much to the relief and happiness of the other heroines of her generation. Raveena’s two most popular songs are Tu cheez badi hai mast mast and Tip tip barsa pain. Both coincidentally with Akshay Kumar. Raveena loves singing and dancing. Her favourite singing-and-dancing partner was Govinda . They had such a ball doing songs like Ankhiyon se goli mare and Kisi disco mein jaayen. The myth spread by the marketing machinery was that Govinda liked Karisma Kapoor as his dancing partner the best. This was just not true. Govinda himself told me he enjoyed dancing with Raveena the most. Raveena counts Govinda and Sanjay Dutt among her pals in Bollywood. Dutt and she did several films together in the 1990s, none memorable. Then after several years when Ram Gopal Varma wanted to bring them together again in Department, Dutt told Ramu he wanted someone “younger”. Stay young forever, Raveena. When Raveena laughs you can hear her voice on the other end of town. Her extreme pleasure in the humorous side of life, hers and others, is equalled by her emotional insecurity – a typical Scorpio trait, and one that cost her plenty in terms of emotional discontent. But Raveena is never one to sit and weep. A more spirited girl would be hard to find in the film industry. Funk and spunk aren’t fashion statements for her. Raveena thrives on these qualities. Her insecurities as an individual and an artiste have never bogged her down. Her frank speak always delights me. And I’m much comforted to see that marriage and motherhood haven’t changed her one bit. She still remains totally hassle-free and utterly outrageously sexy…. and completely unaware of the stares that accompany her every move. I remember after the premiere of Kamal Haasan’s Abhay in 2001 all of us proceeded for dinner at the Taj Lands End. No one was eating much. There was loud conversation across the table, Raveena being the loudest of them all. I was speaking with Ehsaan of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy fame, when suddenly in the middle of the meal she got a call. “I’ll be right back,” Raveena announced to me in a whisper, and she left. She returned a good half an hour later, looking extremely happy with life. “That was my buddy John Abraham. He took me for a spin on his new mo’bike,” she leaned over and whispered happily. That’s not the only time a man has taken her for a ride. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .