Raveena Tandon, who turned 50 last week, found herself in the vortex of an ugly controversy when in 2001 she was awarded the National award for her performance as an abused wife in Kalpana Lajmi in Daman. Raveena’s uncle small-time actor Mac Mohan was part of the jury. The all-powerful actress-danseuse Vyjayanthimala who headed the National award jury that year stoutly defended Raveena’s selection for the honour.
In a throwback interview with Zoom, Vyjayanthimala had said, “I’ve seen all the performances. What the jury members and I felt about Raveena’s performance was, that it was totally unexpected from her. Daman completely changes her glamorous image.
She has dared to play an abused wife and the mother of a grownup daughter. When at the end she assumes the personality of Goddess Durga, we thought Raveena had outdone herself.” Vyjayanthimala criticised the direction.
“I must also add that Kalpana Lajmi, in spite of being a renowned director, hasn’t done full justice to the theme. The film was quite shoddy. The cinematography and music do not rise to the occasion.
Raveena carries off the role remarkably in spite of these drawbacks. She had to get credit for that. As for Tabu in Astitwa and Karisma Kapoor in Zubeida, they are both acknowledged artistes.
They both had powerful roles, dialogues, scripts, and music in Astitwa and Zubeida. But give this girl (Raveena) the credit for working against several odds. Why shouldn’t we give her the award? I’m totall.
