If you weren’t in with the editor, your reputation was fair game. “The headline would do its damage and sit in people’s heads,” she says. “You’d have to bide your time for the next one and maybe a minuscule apology that didn’t amounted to much. The harm was done; there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.”
Why her remarks matter now
It was all about the sensationalism, not what was true. On the second episode of Not Done Yet, Raveena put it plainly: “I think yellow journalism had no control then. You couldn’t just clear the air like you can on Instagram now, with a post and a straight line to your fans.”
She doesn’t mince words. Some actors were left to their own devices while others, the ones who kept the press happy, were given a free pass. “I was at the mercy of editors,” she concedes, noting how the system was built to reward those with access and make an example of the quiet ones.
From gatekeepers to direct posts
These days, you can put out a statement and nip a rumour in the bud. In the 90s, a correction, if you got one, was in small type and came too late. That lag, Raveena points out, is what chipped away at a career.
Here are her sharpest cues for readers to take away:
– Editors once decided who thrived and who suffered
– Headlines stuck, apologies did not
– Privacy often invited harsher speculation
– Social media now lets stars answer instantly
Not the first time she pushed back
It’s not the first time she’s let off steam. She’s been known to say she’d like to “sue the pants off” anyone who put out a lie. There were times she was body-shamed and hounded in the papers, and she felt completely exposed. But her voice now is more measured than vengeful, even as she lays out the case for how the framing of a story could be a death knell.
What is next for Raveena Tandon
In the meantime, she’s busy. You can see her in Ghudchadi with Sanjay Dutt, and she’s set to be in Akshay Kumar’s Welcome To The Jungle, which has a full house of talent from Suniel Shetty to Lara Dutta. Then there’s Vishwanath & Sons with Suriya coming up.
When the media comes for her on the promo circuit, they’ll get the same old talk. Only this time, Raveena has the mic and the caption box to herself.
