The 1990s were male-dominated: Raveena Tandon on the changes in cinema

Mumbai: Raveena Tandon has always tried to pick socially relevant stories with strong female characters and the Padma Shri award is a recognition for her body of work in cinema. The actor, who was recently conferred with India’s fourth-highest civilian award, starred in critically acclaimed movies like ‘Maatr’, ‘Satta’ and ‘Daman’ in her three-decade-long career.

Tandon, whose filmography boasts of commercial entertainers as well as off-beat movies in the 1990s and early 2000s, said her endeavour has always been to associate with films that speak of women’s empowerment.

“I have done films that have social relevance and have a message of women’s empowerment. My choices have always been like that, whether it is ‘Jaago’, ‘Maatr’, ‘Satta’, ‘Shool’ or ‘Daman’. All these films have dealt with issues of strong women,” the actor told the top news agency.

She added, “The reaction mostly on my ‘Twitter’ was: ‘This was long overdue’ because there are younger actors, who came after me, like Priyanka Chopra and a lot of them got awards much before I did. The award is an accumulation of my work.”

Tandon most recently starred in ‘Netflix’ show ‘Aranyak’ and film ‘KGF: Chapter 2’. She believes female artists have better opportunities than they had in the 1990s, an era dominated by male stars.

“There was always a struggle. According to me, the 1990s were male-dominated, whether it was media or movies, what the hero said, happened,” she said, adding that over the years things have changed for the better.

She added, “Today there is a positive change. Women are at the forefront, whether as directors, producers or heads of programming in OTT or the TV industry. I am very positive that things will become better in every way, including pay parity.”

Over the years, the actor said, she has realised that acting is a craft that one never stops learning.

“I still don’t think I am a successful actor because acting is something that you are learning every day. You are evolving every day. The day you think, ‘I know it all and I have learnt it all’, I think that it is the beginning of the end.”

Tandon’s upcoming slate of films includes the Arbaaz Khan-backed social drama ‘Patna Shukla’ and the romantic comedy ‘Gudchadhi’ with Sanjay Dutt.