Raveena Tandon: Flattered even after 10 years, director thought of me for role

Pic/Instagram

Some things are meant to happen in their own time. If you ask Raveena Tandon, she will tell you that Karmma Calling couldn't have happened at a better time. The official adaptation of the popular American series, Revenge, was originally offered to her a decade ago, but the actor didn't feel ready for it. Director Ruchi Narain, however, was certain that whenever the show would be made, Tandon would lead it.

Today, as she fronts the Disney+ Hotstar series, the actor is pleasantly surprised at how things fell in place. "It's flattering and such a huge compliment when a
director says that even after 10 years, she thought of me for the role. In today's times, nobody waits for anyone," says Tandon, recounting how 10 years ago, the show was being made for television. "They wanted 280 days of a year then. This time, they made it crisper, shorter, smarter, and I liked this version."

Raveena Tandon plays a scheming matriarch in the web series

In Karmma Calling, Tandon plays Indrani Kothari, a powerful matriarch who will stop at nothing to protect her family's name. Her dramatic performance is the show's highlight and is being widely praised. The actor's excitement is palpable as she points out how the role is dramatically different from her debut series Aranyak (2021), where she played an honest police officer. "This is such a fertile time for actors because of the kind of characters we get. You have the freedom to experiment on OTT because there is a niche audience for every story you tell. So, you don't have that fear of, ‘Will this run in the theatres?'"

Probably this absence of fear and the experience of a 30-year career behind her are driving Tandon to explore more as an artiste in her 2.0 phase. There's something else too, she points out - the shift in the industry's gender dynamics. It is responsible for the career longevity of female actors. "One always wanted to explore the performer within, but these opportunities are [available] now. We have become conscious about gender equality; we are at a point where many OTT shows are women-led, which is fantastic. Earlier, when a female actor reached the stage where she had learnt to master her craft, she would probably be married. She would be expected to give up her work because of family and household duties, whereas heroes became better [at their craft] and bigger because they got that time and opportunity to keep working. Today, the audience is much more accepting of married actresses working."