EXCLUSIVE: Raveena Tandon defends Bollywood in nepotism debate ahead of daughter Rasha’s debut

Recently, Raveena Tandon got honoured for her contribution towards Indian cinema as she was bestowed with India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri. The actress has been a part of the industry for 32 years and she feels elated with this recognition. Post her felicitation with the honour, Raveena Tandon got in an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble.

The actress dedicated the award to her late father Ravi Tandon, who was a renowned filmmaker in Bollywood. Just as she took her father’s legacy ahead in the industry, Raveena Tandon is set to experience the other side too as her daughter Rasha Thadani is all set to make her debut. There have been reports that she’ll be making her foray in cinema with an Abhishek Kapoor directorial. The film is said to also mark the debut of Ajay Devgn’s nephew Aaman Devgn.

Raveena Tandon on daughter Rasha making her debut

When asked if it worries her that her daughter will be making her debut in a time where star kids face so much flak, she answered in the negative. She said, “No, not at all because I think our kids will obviously learn what they see. If they have art in their bloodstream and if they have talent, I’m not going to tell her, ‘no sorry, you cannot live your dreams, you have to go become a NASA scientist’. I can’t tell her that right?”

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A post shared by Rasha (@rashathadani)

Raveena’s take on Bollywood being targeted for nepotism

Raveena Tandon bluntly presented her take on the whole nepotism issue. She questioned bollywood being singled out and said, ” Children have to follow their dreams and what they want to do and I think that has always been the norm. Aise agar karne jayein to hamare aadhe politicians ko resign kar dena chahiye. (If we go by things, half of our politicians should resign). Every politician has his son in politics or his daughter-in-law in politics and that’s how it’s been.”

She added, “Every big industrialist has their children taking over there business. They can’t say, ‘no, you can’t take over my company. Tum mere bete ho, tum doctor bano. Maine ye pura empire banaya hai, use bhaad mein jane do, tum jake doctor bano.’ Aisa to ho nahi sakta na. (‘You are my son, you become a doctor. I have made this whole empire, but let it go to dumps. You go become a doctor.’ This can’t happen). So then everyone has to give up. So, why is only the film industry cornered?”

The actress defends star kids

Raveena went on to speak for the kids from the industry. She asserted, “In fact, the film industry is so brutal for our kids and there’s in fact so much more pressure. If they have no talent and if they have nothing, maximum what do you do, you’ll make one film for them. Audience tum ho, tumhe nahi dekhna hai mat dekho. (You are the audience, you don’t want to watch them, then don’t). Audience is king. Audience will tell you whether you are worth being here or not. Plain and simple, so that is how it works. Otherwise a lot of our other filmy kids, whom I don’t want to name, would have been superstars today. Unfortunately that’s not the case because they have to go through much more pressure. They have to live up to a certain expectation also. It’s in fact even more tougher for them.”

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Raveena on recognising the privilege

However, the actress also understand the privilege that the kids from the industry come with. Taking an example of her daughter Rasha, Raveena Tandon said, “I agree, yes, the struggle might not be because today you all know her as my daughter. But then, the same thing probably would be in a hospital if a top surgeon’s son is a doctor, everyone already knows him by name. So if he goes somewhere for a job, he’ll already say yes you’ll know my Dad. You can’t change the surname right? So, it happens everywhere but only the film industry is singled out because of lots of jealous people.”

She also insisted that if the star kids have it in their destiny, no one could change that. She discussed,“But then you can’t take away somebody’s kismat from them. Jo likh le laye hain, wo likh ke laye hain. Yahaan paida hona tha unhe film industry mein, yahaan paida hue hain. Unki choice nahi thi. Aisa nahi ki hamare bacche paida hue hain hum laat maar ke nikal dein ki tum hamari film industry mein kyun paida hue? Tum to doctor hi bano. Tum ye kar hi nahi sakte ho. Aisa to ho nahi sakta na. (What’s written for them, will happen. They were to be born in the industry, so they did. It wasn’t their choice. It’s not like we can kick our kids out and question them for being born here. We can’t force them to become a doctor and not an actor. It can’t happen that way). The pressure of expectations is much more on them.”

You can watch the entire conversation with Padma Shri Raveena Tandon here:

Also Read: Padma Shri Awardee Raveena Tandon receives love from daughter Rasha: This is a victory for you mama