‘Ravishing’ Raveena Tandon is the daughter of well known Bollywood director Ravi Tandon. Born on 26th October 1974, she did her schooling from Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu. She joined Mithibai College, Mumbai for her graduation, but dropped out to pursue modelling. Her debut film was Patthar Ke Phool (1991) with Salman Khan. The fresh face received the Filmfare Lux New Face Award for the movie.
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The year 1994 was significant in her career as she worked in two hit films - Mohra (1994) and Dilwale (1994).She also earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for Laadla (1994). These films got her recognition and popularity and she continued to be a part of hit films like Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) and Ziddi (1997). 

However, she decided to take a sabbatical as and hence declined the second lead in blockbuster movies "Dil to Pagal Hai" (1997) and "Gupt" (1997).
 
Nevertheless, 1998 saw her came back with a bang, when she had eight releases. Post the year 2000, Tandon decided to try out different roles and proved her versatility. She accepted offers from art film directors who did realistic cinema. Her non-glamourbous looks and performances in films like Shool (1999) was much appreciated. Other mvies like Bulandi (2000) and Aks (2001) also won her huge acclaim. The actress also won the popular National Film Award for Best Actress for her act in Kalpana Lajmi's film Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence (2001). Here she played the character of an abusive husband’s wife.  The critics and audiences were stunned with her performance in the film and she received much appreciation for her work. 
Since then, she has been seen in a number of critically acclaimed films including Satta (2003) and Dobara (2004), which didn’t do well commercially, but her performance won accolades. 
She did a typical Bollywood movie in 2006 - Sandwich – with actor Govinda.

Apart from acting Tandon has also produced films including Stumped (2003) and Pehchaan: The Face of Truth (2005). In 2012, she also hosted a TV show – Isi Ka Naam Zindagi. 

She is married to Anil Thadani and has two children with him. Before marriage, Tandon had adoptedtwo girls, who are all grown and married now.