Mad about her

Married?
Yes. The crimp-haired vivacious gal tied the knot some two years ago to producer Ravi Tandon who, incidentally, is actress Raveena Tandon’s brother.

So does Raakhee also hail from a filmi background?
“No. My father is a businessman dealing in auto spares and I was merrily going through college when I was spotted by an advertising person. She liked my face and asked me to model. That led to the offer of the teleserial Dekh Bhai Dekh, followed by Hum Paanch.”

And while Hum Paanch has given the actress a major fan following, it has also led to her acquiring an identity she finds difficult to break away from.

“Half the time people think I am as bird-brained as the character I play. Even little kids scamper up to me and talk to me as though we have the same IQ. It gets to me at times. But then I console myself with the thought that it says a lot for my acting abilities. That I have managed to play a character so convincingly that people have actually started to believe that I am like that only,” she shrugs.

So is she, ahem, like that only?
“How can you ask? Of course not. I mean I do have some sense and I certainly don’t go around singing those filmi songs all the time. Nor am I an extrovert like in the serial. I am really very different.” Okay, okay, we believe you Sweety… er, Raakhee.

Despite her popularity on TV, how come she’s not seen in too many serials?
“I am acting in two other serials – Henna and Professor Pyarelal – both produced by my husband. I have decided to work only in our in-house serials,” she explains. So movies, too, are out, unless, of course, they happen to be hubby’s productions.

And what does she do in her ample spare hours?
She spends them doing the best possible thing – nothing. “I really have no interests or hobbies though I assist my husband in his work at times, because I want to learn more about production. Other than that, I just lounge around. My mother-in-law is a super-efficient home-maker so I am not required to do anything on that front. I shoot just six days a month and spend the rest of the time with the family.” Domesticity is obviously the best policy here.

With two stars at home, does she have a tough time getting along with sis-in-law Raveena Tandon?
“On the contrary, we get along like a house on fire. We are friends first, relatives later. In fact, Raveena was my strongest supporter during my courtship days, and when Ravi started getting cold feet at the nth hour, since we knew each other just six months before tying the knot, it was Raveena who gave him the push. What’s amazing is that after we started to get to know each other, we discovered that our tastes were uncannily similar. We wear the same kind of clothes, have the same shoe size and even identical eating habits.

“When Ravi and I had gone to Switzerland for our honeymoon, Raveena was also shooting there. One day, she and I decided to go out shopping. At one point, we went separately to pick up what each one wanted. When we met after sometime, and showed each other what we had bought, believe it or not, we had picked up identical stuff – the same shoes, shirt and perfumes”!

So, what is the ideal bahu and bhabi most likely to say?
“India is a beautiful country but we, as Indians, need to try and make it a better place to stay in, because it seems to be going downhill everyday”.

And least likely to say?
“Er… ummm… I dunno.” Perhaps it’s just the Sweety hangover.