Defying parental wishes for a doctor’s coat, Ravi Tandon fled Agra for Mumbai in 1958, BSc in hand after flunking pre-med. Born February 17, 1935, son of judge Amarnath Tandon, his passion for films was unstoppable.
Humility marked his start: two-rupee junior roles, bit parts in ‘Love in Simla’. Set life schooled him in cinema’s craft.
Turning point: Directing ‘Balidan’ (1971) under Manoj Kumar’s wing. Hits cascaded—’Anhonee’, ‘Majboor’, ‘Khel Khel Mein’, ‘Jawab’, ‘Zindagi’, ‘Chor Ho To Aisa’, ‘Khuddar’, ‘Aan Aur Shaan’, ‘Nazrana’—each a box-office winner, showcasing his genre-spanning talent.
From ‘Anhonee”s edge-of-seat thrills to ‘Khel Khel Mein”s breezy romance with RD Burman scores and Rishi-Neetu charm, Ravi crafted crowd-pleasers. Drama, music, suspense—he mastered all with integrity.
Roots called back via awards: Pride of Agra (2015), Braj Ratna (2020). Overwhelmed, he credited Agra for visions, Mumbai for visibility.
February 11, 2022, claimed him at 86 in Mumbai. Bollywood mourns, but Ravi Tandon’s saga—from Agra’s dust to fame’s dazzle—fuels aspiring filmmakers eternally.