3 min readChennaiFeb 16, 2026 12:12 PM IST
Raveena Tandon was one of the top actors of the 90s. Already a well-known name in the industry, the success of her 1994 film Mohra marked a major turning point in her career, firmly establishing her as one of the most sought-after leading actresses in Hindi cinema. It was around this phase that filmmaker Karan Johar offered her a role in his debut directorial Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. However, Raveena chose to turn it down as it was a second lead.
In a recent interaction with Zoom, Raveena explained why she rejected Karan Johar’s first film despite being good friends with the filmmaker-producer. She said, “I had my reasons to reject certain films. For example, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karan always says that you didn’t do my first film, but I tell him that I would have loved to do it, and you are my friend, but unfortunately, during that time in my career, I couldn’t have restarted my career by playing second lead after leaving at a point which was Mohra.”
She further added, “It was very necessary for me to against start of even if I have five scenes and five songs, but as a solo heroine. I had to restart my career like that, which was very difficult, but I was like you have to do this. It worked for Rani Mukerji because she was young and fresh face, but for me, it was not trying to start off from where I left off, that was a really difficult decision for me.”
Raveena also revealed that she refused to star in the iconic song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from Mani Ratnam’s 1998 film Dil Se as she did not want to be branded an ‘item girl’. She said, “Chaiyya Chaiyya came, and I was dying to do it, but I didn’t want to be branded ‘item girl’. So I remember telling Mani Ratnam Ji that I am dying to do a film with you, I want to be in every film of yours, but unfortunately I can’t do this song. These are the regrets that you do have, but then you can’t do everything in life.”
The song ultimately featured Malaika Arora alongside Shah Rukh Khan. Chaiyya Chaiyya went on to become a massive sensation, turning Malaika into an overnight star and cementing her status as one of Bollywood’s most iconic dancers.
