Ravishing Raveena

After making a comeback some years ago, 1990s’ diva Raveena Tandon plays the role of prime minister in KGF 2

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

Raveena Tandon, the fiery, sexy and chiseled-nose actor from the 1990s whose steamy song—‘Tip, tip barsa paani’—set the screen on fire, completed 30 years in Bollywood last year. Tandon said she loathes the term ‘Bollywood’. “We are quite done with it. I don’t recognise Bollywood as the way the media coins the term. For me, it is no longer Mumbai-centric. Rather, a pan-India integrated Hindi film industry, and in that sense a lot has changed over the years,” said Tandon to THE WEEK two days before the release of KGF 2, which has Yash playing the lead role as Rocky bhai. The film also features Tandon and Srinidhi Shetty in crucial roles. Based on Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) and the notorious gold mafia, the film will have Tandon essaying the role of prime minister Ramika Sen—the politician who orders Rocky’s execution, a role she was not sure of until the last minute, and especially since her role in part one did not materialise. “It was a wait and watch situation… I wanted to see how the character develops as the role had to be substantial. Given the kind of success that part one generated, I knew I had to do part two.”

KGF 2 is significant for two reasons: one, it is Tandon’s second Kannada film after Upendra (1999), and two, it marks her first big-screen outing after her 2017 release, Shab.