‘I Would Do It All Over Again’: Raveena Tandon on Being a Single Mother at 21

Actor Raveena Tandon, who adopted two girls at the age of 21, speaks to The Quint about being a single mom.

Raveena Tandon with her daughters Pooja and Chaya.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

(This story has been reposted from The Quint's archives on the occasion of Mother's Day.)

Actor Raveena Tandon was one of the first celebrities to break the stigma around being a single mother at the age of 21. Raveena Tandon adopted her cousin's daughters Pooja and Chaya in 1995 after their mother had passed away.

Raveena said she took that step because she believed they weren't living the life they deserved.

The Quint caught up with Raveena and spoke to her about being a single mother at such a young age, the challenges she faced and more. "I couldn't have imagined my life being more complete without them. With them, there's the completion I always asked for," Raveena said.

The actor also opened up about keeping her kids away from the media glare, "Those days I didn't trust the media at all. There was so much yellow journalism. Even if you tried to do a good deed, they'd try to find a scandal in it. I wanted to keep them away from that."

Watch the video for more.