Raveena Tandon responds to trolls questioning her Padma Shri award

Actor Raveena Tandon was conferred with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, by President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday (April 5). While she received praise from her family, friends, and colleagues within the film fraternity for such an incredible honor, some social media users questioned whether she deserved it or not. Breaking her silence, Tandon has opened up about the comments made by trolls.

In an interaction with Mid-Day, 48-year-old Tandon stated, "I don't want to give any importance to them as they have their own agenda. The comments of a few, who have 20 followers and haven't seen the work that I have done, will not diminish my body of work." "Trolls only see the glamour; they don't see the hard work," the actor added.

In a career spanning over three decades, Tandon has made her indelible mark in Bollywood with some amazing performances. Further addressing trolls, Tandon mentioned, "Whether it was Daman (2001), Jaago (2004), or Maatr (2017), these films talked about violence against women and [rallied for] women empowerment. I love commercial cinema, but I also look at projects that will make a difference to society."

In the aftermath of the award ceremony, netizens flooded social media platforms with comments questioning the credibility of Tandon's honor. A user commented, "Legendary singer Geeta Shri Sandhya Mukherjee refused the Padma Shri award—it was too small an award for her career... Imagine Raveena Tandon being awarded in the same category? These awards are a shameful slap on the credibility of REAL artists (sic)."

Apart from films, Tandon has always shown her eagerness to work on various social causes. To recall, in 1995, Tandon adopted two girls named, Pooja and Chhaya, as a single mother. Tandon, in the interview, further said, "When I built a functional orphanage for 30 girls, or I [ensured] that oxygen cylinders reached [hospitals]...during the pandemic, it gave me a sense of gratification."