Rekha is the Mona Lisa of Bollywood. Enigmatic, seductive, and iconic—Rekha, in her four-decade-old career, has drawn more ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ from the audiences than any other actress. Although, she has already celebrated her fiftieth birthday, but the charm of her personality and glow of her face, refuse to fade. She is the same charming enchantress, who had once weaved her magic spell on the greatest superstar of India—Amitabh Bachan.
Rekha was born as Bhanurekha Ganesan, to the doyen of south Indian cinema, Gemini Ganeshan, and Telghu actress Pushapavalli in 1954. The unfortunate separation of her parents brought Rekha to Mumbai, with her mother. The ways of nature are strange. A gloomy, flabby, clumsy looking child of the 60s groomed into the most beautiful Indian actress of 70s and beyond.
She debuted in *Sawan Badhon in 1970. Regular regimen of exercise, yoga, and meditation brought a sudden and significant change in her figure, complexion, and beauty. Dulal Guha’s *Do Anjaane(1976) and **Maneck Chatterjee’s *Ghar , reaffirmed in no equivocal terms that Rekha was here-to-stay. Call it her will or God’s benevolence—by 1980, Rekha had become the most sought heroine of Bollywood. This was the time when, Amitabh-Rekha flicks like *Mr. Natwarlal, Muqadar Ka Sikander (1978), Silsila (1982), Khoon-Paseenacarried Houseful banners. And the gossip mill worked overtime with Amitabh and Rekha’s love tales. But alas, not all fairy tale stories reach their logical culminations. Soon the two stars were moving in different orbits. But by this time, both, with twenty films between them, had been catapulted to the super-stardom status.
There was no looking back for Rekha, who kept on mesmerising the ever-hungry Indian audiences, with one riveting performance after another. The role of courtesan played by her, in *Muqadaar Ka Sikaander and *Umraao Jaan (1987) are masterpieces in a genre, which can only be emulated, but not outdone. In *Kamasutra (1996), she again portrayed a seductress, who had spent a lifetime, gratifying the sexual desires of the royals. In between, she gave legendary performances in art films like *Utsav (1984), Basera (1981) and Ijaazat (1987) too.
**********In recent times, she won critical acclaim for her roles in **Shayam Benegal’s *Zubeeida and **Raj Kumar Santoshi’s *Lajja, where she played second fiddle to new generation actresses like Karishma, Manisha, and Mahima. Nevertheless, she proved the point, that a thing of beauty is joy forever. More recently, in *Koi Mil Gaya and *Parineeta too the audiences saw the same charm about her that they had once relished in those ‘angry young man’ starrers.
But far from the celluloid that has sparkled with her scintillating expression, the personal life of Rekha has been a tragedy that can best be described in Shakespeare’s words:
“She pined in thought; And, with a green and yellow melancholy, She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief.” (What You Will)
A child of a disturbed family, she would have least expected her life to be as tumultuous. She was once wooed by film stars Jeetendra, Vinod Mehra, Kiran Kumar and of course, Amitabh Bachan. But none could size up to the persona, whom, she could deem as her man. Ultimately, she married a Delhi based businessman, Mukesh Aggrawal, in 1990, which not only ended in their divorce, but latter’s suicide as well. Inwardly bruised Rekha leads a detached and a solitary lifestyle in her Mumbai bungalow.
A veteran of over 60 films, Rekha has won two Best Actress and one Best Supporting Actress Filmfare Awards. She also won a coveted National Award for her performance in Umrao Jaan.******************
FILMOGRAPHY
**********FILMOGRAPHY (incl. unreleased movies)
1970 SAWAN BHADON (intr.) Rekha, (intr.) Navin Nischol
1972 RAAMPUR KA LAKSHMAN Randhir, Rekha
1973 KAHANI KISMAT KI Dharmendra, Rekha, (intr.) Shakti Kapoor KASHMAKASH Feroz Khan, Rekha
KEEMAT Dharmendra, Rekha
NAMAK HARAAM Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Rekha
PRAN JAYE PAR VACHAN NA JAYE Sunil Dutt, Rekha
1974 DUNIYA KA MELA , Sanjay Khan, Rekha
1975 DHARAM KARAM Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rekha
1976 DO ANJAANE Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Rekha
1977 AAP KI KHATIR Vinod Khanna, Rekha, Madira
ALAAP Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Chhaya Devi
PALKON KI CHHAON MEIN Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini, Asrani
1978 BHOLA BHALA Rajesh Khanna, Rekha, Moushumi Chatterjee
GANGA KI SAUGANDH Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Amjad Khan
MUQADDAR KA SIKANDER / MUKADD Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee, Vinod Khanna
1979 MR. NATWARLAL Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha
1980 JUDAAI Jeetendra, Rekha
KHOOBSURAT Rekha, Ashok Kumar, Rakesh Roshan
MAANG BHARO SAJANA Jeetendra, Rekha, Moushumi
RAM BALRAM Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman
1981 BASERAA Shashi Kapoor, Rakhee, Rekha
EK HI BHOOL Jeetendra, Rekha
NAGIN Sunil Dutt, Feroz Khan, Sanjay Khan
1982 SILSILA Amitabh Bachchan, Shakti Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan
1983 AGAR TUM NA HOTE Rajesh Khanna, Rekha, Raj Babbar
1984 BAAZI Mithun Chakraborty, Dharmendra, Rekha
JHOOTA SACH Mithun Chakraborty, Dharmendra, Rekha
UTSAV Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Anuradha
1985 FAASLE Rekha, Sunil Dutt, (intr.) Farah
1986 INSAAF KI AWAAZ Anil Kapoor, Richa Sharma, Rekha
JAAL Mithun Chakraborty, Rekha, Moon Moon Sen
JHOOTHI Rekha, Amol, Raj Babbar
PYAR KI JEET Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Ashok Kumar
1987 IJAAZAT Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Shashi Kapoor
1988 BIWI HO TO AISI Rekha, Farooq Sheik, Bindu
DHARMATMA Feroz Khan, Hema Malini, Rekha
KHOON BHARI MAANG Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Kabir Bedi
1989 BAHU RANI Rakesh Roshan, Rekha
BHRASHTACHAR Rekha, Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher
CLERK Manoj Kumar, Rekha
1993 GEETANJALI Rekha (double role), Jeetendra, Dalip Tahil
1995 AB INSAF HOGA Rekha, Mithun Chakraborty, Farooq Sheikh
UMRAO JAAN Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah, Farouque Shaikh
1996 AURAT AURAT AURAT Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Sadashiv
KAMA SUTRA Rekha (Rasa Devi), Indira Varma, Sarita Chaudhary
KHILADIYON KA KHILADI Rekha, Akshay Kumar, Raveena Tandon
1997 AASTHA Rekha, Om Puri
UDAAN Saif Ali Khan, Madhoo, Rekha
1998 BULUNDI Anil Kapoor, Rekha, Rajnikant
KAUN KAISA HAI KHILADI (AKA I Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna, Rekha
QILA Dilip Kumar, Rekha, Mamta Kulkarni
OTHER
(YEAR OF RELEASE UNKNOWN)
AAG KA DURAY Dilip Kumar, Rekha
GHAR Rekha, Vinod Mehra KARMYOGI Jeetendra, Raj Kumar, Reena Roy
MUSAFIR Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha, Moon Moon Sen
NISHANA Rekha, Mithun Chakraborty, Paresh Rawal
source: Rekha’s original homepage
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