Raveena Tandon says she is friends with Akshay Kumar, adds ‘You need to respect everyone’s journey and move on’

Weeks after the former couple was seen hugging each other at the Hindustan Times India’s Most Stylish 2023 event in Mumbai, Raveena Tandon has said that she is “still friends” with Akshay Kumar, and thinks of him “very highly”. Raveena and Akshay were engaged before things turned sour and the engagement was called off two decades ago. (Also read: Exes Raveena Tandon and Akshay Kumar share hugs 20 years after they called off their engagement, watch)

At the event held earlier this month, Akshay bagged the Style Hall of Fame – Male award. Soon after Raveena announced his name as the winner, Akshay walked up to the stage and hugged Raveena. She then presented the award to him.

Raveena spoke about her co-stars in an ETimes interview, and said, “Ajay Devgn and I did six-seven films. Sunny Deol and I shared a great rapport; we were a hit pair. Just recently too, we have been offered a film together. Akshay and I are still friends. There’s a journey in everyone’s life. You need to respect it and move on. I think of him very highly. I think he is one of the strongest pillars of our industry.”

She added that she even loved working with Nana Patekar. “While Nana Patekar may not have got along with many, he and I loved working with each other. Nasser saab (Naseeruddin Shah) is a great experience. Recently I worked with Mohan Babu and he is believed to be a terror- but he and I just love working with each other. Naga Chaitanya and I are very good friends. Prabhas says he has a crush on me and my ego gets inflated.”

Raveena and Akshay Kumar first worked together on their hit film Mohra which released in 1994. The actors started dating soon. Akshay and Raveena also worked together in films such as Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Barood and Aan: Men At Work, and Police Force: An Inside Story, among a few others.

Raveena said they got engaged in the late 90s. However, they parted ways. Akshay later married Twinkle Khanna in 2001 while Raveena married Anil Thadani in 2004.

Speaking about Akshay Kumar, Raveena told ANI earlier this year, “We were a hit pair, during Mohra, and even now, when we bump into each other socially, we all meet, we all chat. Everyone moves on. Girls have been changing their boyfriends every week in colleges, but one engagement that has broken is still stuck to my head, I don’t know why. Everyone moves on, people have divorces, they move on, what’s the big deal?”