Raveena on a director’s outburst over a scene

Raveena Tandon

, known for her iconic dance numbers in the

1990s

, recently discussed her past experiences in the film industry. She revealed that she rejected certain movie offers because she disagreed with how her character was portrayed. Specifically, she refused a role that would have required her to resemble a ‘Playboy Bunny’.
In an interview with Barkha Dutt on Mojo Story, Raveena Tandon also recounted a time when she walked out of a project because a director showed disrespect towards her intelligence.

“I remember there was a film I did where the child was supposed to be in a coma, and the mother walks in, and the child is supposed to look at me and say, ‘Mumma, mumma, mumma’. So my question was,If the nurse comes to me just before this scene and says, ‘aapka bachcha coma mein hai’, then how in the world is he crying out for his mother?”
She raised this concern with the director, who became defensive in response. “He told me, ‘You don’t teach me how to direct’. I said, ‘Sir, but it’s a scientific fact; we can’t go wrong, and people will laugh at us’. Because my neck is on the line as well. Ultimately, actors bear the brunt of the criticism. But there’s a limit to what you can suggest as an actor. The director walked off the set, and I said, ‘Okay, fine, then I’m not doing the film’.”

Raveena stated that she doesn’t regret any of the roles or songs she has performed in the past. “I very proudly stand by everything that I’ve done, because things that made me uncomfortable, I definitely did not do… Most of the time, I have stayed away from doing things that I principally didn’t agree with,” she said. This included rejecting a film on the basis of its costumes. She said, “I didn’t do

kissing scenes

, but I also didn’t do movies if the costumes I was not comfortable with. I left big movies with big stars if I wasn’t comfortable with the costumes.” She explained, “There was a film that I had with a very, very big star that I regret, because I really wanted to work with him; he was my favorite.” But unfortunately, it had those pom-poms right here, like a Playboy Bunny, which to me was objectifying women.”
Professionally, Raveena has moved into solo lead roles recently. She was last seen in the film ‘Patna Shuklla’, and before that, she appeared in the Disney+ Hotstar show ‘Karmma Calling’ and the Netflix series ‘Aranyak’.