Actor and Animal Advocate Raveena Tandon Named PETA India’s 2025 Person of the Year
In recognition of her vow to be meat-free, fierce dedication to protecting wildlife, her tireless advocacy on behalf of community animals, and her compassionate efforts to promote empathy for all living, feeling beings, PETA India has named award-winning Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon its 2025 Person of the Year.
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Earlier this year, Tandon – alongside her daughter, actor Rasha Thadani – partnered with PETA India to gift a life-size mechanical elephant to Karnataka’s Thousand Pillars Jain Temple in recognitions of the temple’s kind decision never to own or hire live elephants. Tandon has also been a champion for humane education, promoting PETA India’s award-winning Compassionate Citizen programme, which is designed to foster empathy in young learners by helping them better understand and appreciate animals.
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Over the years, Tandon has also taken on the homeless animal crisis, opening her heart and home to several adopted cats and dogs and rescuing others. She personally rescued a 2-month-old kitten from the busy streets of Mumbai, and starred in a PETA India campaign urging everyone to never buy animals from a breeder or pet store.
A passionate defender of wildlife, Tandon previously sent a letter urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene on behalf of the panthers and other animals faced with the loss of their habitat as a result of a freight corridor project, and called on authorities to take swift action after humans strangled a leopard in a village. She also joined PETA India in calling attention to the suffering endured by snakes, alligators, and other animals who are violently slaughtered for their skin, and promoted plant-powered eating to her millions of social media followers by publicly calling on Burger King to open a fully vegan location in India or to at least offer vegan Whoppers.
“Through my association with PETA India, my heart has been opened to true empathy that does not differentiate between species. That’s because chickens, dogs, rabbits, and other animals want to live, just like you and me. They have consciousness and emotions, including fear and love, and are intelligent, I have taught my children the importance of compassion and empathy, too.” – Raveena Tandon
Past recipients of PETA India’s Person of the Year Award include Bollywood star Adah Sharma, former Supreme Court Justice KS Panicker Radhakrishnan, cricketer Virat Kohli, comedian Kapil Sharma, and actors Dia Mirza, Alia Bhatt, John Abraham, Anushka Sharma, Sunny Leone, Sonakshi Sinha, R Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Hema Malini, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja.
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