Raveena Ravi Tandon
A Hindi film actor whose work runs from Mohra to Daman and Aranyak, and who runs a charity for children, women and animals; Padma Shri, 2023.
Raveena Tandon is a film actor known for both popular hits and socially minded roles. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of art, from Maharashtra [1].
A star from her first film
Tandon was born on 26 October 1972, the daughter of the film-maker Ravi Tandon [2]. She made her debut in Patthar Ke Phool in 1991, which brought her first Filmfare award [2]. Films such as Dilwale, Mohra and Dulhe Raja were big commercial successes [2]. She was praised for her part in the National Award-winning Shool and nominated for a national award for Satta [2].
Choosing difficult stories
She also took on roles that were risky for a mainstream star [2]. Daman, about marital violence, won her the National Film Award for Best Actress in 2001, and Jaago and Maatr, based on real cases, drew praise from women’s groups [2]. More recently she appeared in KGF: Chapter 2 and in the Netflix series Aranyak, which looks at women in the police, winning a Filmfare OTT award for it in 2022 [2].
Beyond the screen
Tandon is also a wildlife photographer and an environmentalist, and the Prime Minister has praised her work promoting organ donation [2]. Her Rudra Foundation works for children, women and animals, and during the Covid-19 pandemic it sent truckloads of oxygen cylinders to people in need [2]. She is Maharashtra’s wildlife goodwill ambassador and was the first person from the entertainment industry to be a delegate at the W20, the G20’s women’s engagement group [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2023: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2023: citation for Raveena Ravi Tandon — Padma Awards, Government of India. Accessed 21 October 2026.
Last updated . First draft prepared with AI assistance; reviewed and fact-checked by a person before publishing. Report a correction
