Not every heroine’s story begins with lights and camera; some start with heartbreak detours and a kind of quiet bravery no script can capture. Before Raveena Tandon dazzled on screen she was a little girl with a famous crush a string of emotional scars and an unshakeable will to rise. Meet the girl who survived the industry before she ruled it Raveena Tandon’s journey in Bollywood is not just about glitz and glamour it’s a tale of grit heartbreak reinvention and grace. Born into a film family she didn’t ride on the legacy; she carved her own. Was Rishi Kapoor her first crush? In a surprising revelation at a Bombay Velvet event Raveena confessed “Rishi Kapoor was my crush.” The irony is that years later she worked with his son Ranbir Kapoor and admitted that seeing Ranbir reminded her of his father. The throwback photo from Rishi and Neetu Singh’s wedding where little Raveena appears wide-eyed only makes this more heartwarmingly full circle. Did love almost break her? Raveena’s off-screen life has often mirrored the drama of the movies she starred in. Her highly publicised romance and reported engagement with Akshay Kumar became gossip column fuel. But things fell apart just as suddenly. So much so Raveena once attempted suicide as per media reports a dark chapter that she survived with quiet courage. When did she become a mother before marriage? Long before embracing motherhood biologically Raveena adopted two young girls and raised them as a single mother a bold rare move in an era when single women in Bollywood were expected to hide their personal choices. She later married film distributor Anil Thadani and they have two children together. But her role as a mother began long before that wedding. Through career highs and personal lows flops and fame heartbreaks and healing Raveena stood tall.