Raveena Tandon, who has been living out of suitcases for the last fortnight, attending various international film festivals, has just returned to India with a best actress trophy she won at the Houston Film Festival. “This was my first film festival experience and it’s been great!” gushes the mast mast girl.
She won the award for her film Shobhana’s 7 Nights which has her playing a glamorous, hi-profile socialite and novelist, a character that is rumoured to be inspired by columnist Shobhaa De. Raveena who will be seen on the big screen after five years, is quick to refute the rumour. “It’s just that when you think of a person who is beautiful, glamorous, an ex-model and a novelist, you think of Shobhaa. Other than that there is no similarity whatsoever between my character and her.”
The actor was seen in a small role last year in Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap which didn’t get any positive feedback. “That was a favour I did for Ram Gopal Varma and David Dhawan,” she dismisses. “I wanted to pick up from where I had left, with a meaningful and challenging role, which I found in this film,” says the actor, who has played some strong characters in the past.
She won the National Award for Daman. “Yes, but they were predictable roles. You knew that in Daman, my character will kill the villain at the end and in Satta, there were shades of grey to my character. Even in Aks, I played a glamorous girl and the role was not off-the-beaten track,” says Raveena who is visibly excited about her upcoming release. “It’s about her relationship with three men in her life, Anupam Kher who is the publisher, her husband (Rohit Roy) and a young photographer (Amit Sarin). The film exposes the dark side of Mumbai’s night life. Usually, when heroines play the negative character, they want it to be justified, but Shobhana is not apologetic or defensive about the way she is, which is what I liked,” says the actor who enjoyed the dark and edgy nature of her role.
Raveena is hoping for a positive response when the film releases next month. It certainly seems to be the year of married actresses making their comeback. While Karisma Kapoor’s Dangerous Ishhq failed to make an impact, Sridevi has returned with a bang with English Vinglish. “It all depends on the film, and not on your marital status. Kajol proved that when she made her comeback with Fanaa,” points out Raveena.
