Raveena Tandon Says She’s “Always Been Friends With” Ex-Fiance Akshay Kumar, His Ex-Girlfriend Shilpa Shetty
Raveena Tandon opened up about her past with Akshay Kumar, clearing the air on Shilpa Shetty rumours.
It is no secret that Bollywood’s off-screen romances often generate more buzz than the films themselves. From the iconic pairings of the 90s to the present day, fans remain fascinated by who is dating whom – and, more importantly, why they broke up. Perhaps no 90s saga was more talk of the town than the relationship between Raveena Tandon and Akshay Kumar. While their eventual split sparked decades of rumours regarding a love triangle involving Shilpa Shetty, Raveena is finally setting the record straight.
ALSO READ | Raveena Breaks Silence On Suicide Rumours Post Her Breakup With Akshay Kumar
Raveena has officially wrapped filming for Ahmed Khan’s adventure comedy ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ (the third installment of the Welcome franchise). The film features one of the most massive star casts in recent history, but the real headline is Raveena’s reunion with Akshay Kumar.
Though the two were famously engaged in the 90s before their high-profile split, Raveena insists there is zero awkwardness on set. Raveena described the shoot as a "reunion with buddies," filled with laughter.
She credited their current bond to maturity, noting that everyone in the industry goes through link-ups and breakups when they are young.
ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon To Reunite After 20 Years For THIS Film. Details Inside
Despite rumours of a long-standing fallout with Shilpa Shetty (who dated Akshay after his split from Raveena), the two actresses are now on excellent terms.
“We still laugh about a lot of things,” Raveena shared and added, “We’ve all become friends. We all were young. We’re all in the same industry. Who’s not gone through link-ups, breakups, and relationships?”
All three parties have built settled lives outside of their past headlines. Akshay Kumar is married to Twinkle Khanna, and they are doting parents to Aarav and Nitara. Raveena Tandon got married to film distributor Anil Thadani. They are parents to actress Rasha Thadani and Ranbirvardhan.
Shilpa Shetty tied the knot with Raj Kundra, and they are parents to Viaan and Samisha.
“Today, Akshay and I are friends. Shilpa and I are friends. We’ve all moved on. We’re happy for our families. We’re happy for our children,” Raveena said in her interview with Zoom.
“Akshay and I have just done Welcome 3, and we’ve laughed through the film. It’s such a funny film. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working together again. You’ve to grow up and mature. We’re all happy for each other,” she added.
Raveena also clarified that despite their wedding getting called off, she and Akshay have always been friends. “Akki and me were always very good friends. That day, we were in the Film City, and there was Suniel (Shetty), Sanju (Sanjay Dutt), and Sunny (Deol) shooting for Ahmed’s film. They were all like, ‘Arey tu idhar aa!’ It was like a reunion with all my buddies. I clicked a picture with them also, posted it, and wrote, ‘Me and my boys!’ It’s so much fun to catch up. I’ve always been their best friend, and known all their lafdas. Now that Chichi (Govinda) and I meet, we all meet warmly. That era was something else,” Raveena said.
She revealed that her “best friend” status with her male co-stars was actually a calculated self-defense mechanism. To avoid being viewed as a "seductive object" or receiving indecent proposals, Raveena purposefully became "one of the boys." She established a backslapping, "hero’s buddy" rapport to keep advances at bay.
Her forthright nature (which made co-stars scared she would expose their flirting) and her brown belt in karate ensured no one crossed the line. This bond led to her co-stars – including Akki, Sanju, Salman Khan, and Sunny Deol – becoming fiercely protective of her, even physically defending her from people who tried to misbehave.
“Akki, Sanju, Salman (Khan), and Sunny have bashed up someone for me. The unit used to be together like a family,” said Raveena.
Fans can see this chemistry back on the big screen soon. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is slated for release on June 26.
The film also reunites Raveena with her ‘Vinashak’ co-star Suniel Shetty. Suniel himself is keeping busy with another star-studded project ‘Baap’, alongside Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, and Mithun Chakraborty.
