Rekha Biography: Born on October 10, 1954, Bhanurekha Ganesan is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi cinema. She is best known by her stage name, Rekha. She has starred in over 180 films and is recognised as one of the best actresses in Indian cinema. She has won multiple awards, including four Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In both mainstream and indie films, she has frequently portrayed powerful, nuanced female characters, both literary and fictional. Despite experiencing downturns in her career, Rekha has been recognised for her ability to maintain her standing and has developed a reputation for always reinventing herself. The fourth highest civilian accolade in India, the Padma Shri, was bestowed upon her by the Government of India in 2010.
Rekha Biography
In her fifty-year career, Rekha has acted in over 180 motion pictures. Throughout her career, she has portrayed strong female leads on screen and has also made appearances in art and investigative films, which are referred to be “parallel cinema” in India. She has received three Film Fare Awards for her roles in Khoon Bhari Maang (1988), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), and Khubsoorat (1980), including two for best actress and one for best supporting actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress in Umrao Jaan (1981) for her portrayal of a traditional courtesan. Despite times when her field has declined, she has recovered from setbacks numerous times and is highly renowned for her ability to maintain her standing. 2010 saw the Indian government grant him.
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Who is Rekha?
Bhanurekha Ganesan, popularly recognized as Rekha, is an Indian actress who primarily stars in Hindi movies.
Born: 10 October 1954 (age 69 years), Chennai
Spouse: Mukesh Aggarwal (m. 1990–1990)
Parents: Gemini Ganesan, Pushpavalli
Siblings: Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan, MORE
When the South Indian performers Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli were single, Rekha was born Bhanurekha Ganesan on October 10, 1954, in Madras (modern-day Chennai). Her four children are radiation oncologist Revathi Swaminathan in Illinois, gynaecologist Kamala Selvaraj, writer Narayani Ganesan of The Times of India, and physician Jaya Shreedhar. Ganesan was formerly married to T. R. “Bobjima” Alamelu. Vijaya Chamundeswari, a fitness specialist, and Sathish Kumaar are two more children he had with actress Savitri. When this was going on, Pushpavalli was married to the lawyer I. V. Rangachari before having two children, Babuji and Rama.In [9] Another daughter, Radha (born 1955), was born to Ganesan and Pushpavalli. Her uncle is Vedantam Raghavayya, and her aunt is Suryaprabha. She is related to the actress Shubha and her cousin Nagaprasad.
Film career
Businessman Kuljeet Pal of Nairobi travelled to Gemini Studios at the end of 1968 in order to find a novice for his upcoming film Anjana Safar, which was to be an adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s 1885 novel King Solomon’s Mines. After Vanisri, he cast Rekha as the film’s second female star after spotting her at the studio. Pal went to Pushpavalli’s residence to give Rekha a screen test. She was given a number of Hindi words to rewrite in Latin script by Rekha, who was then instructed to memorise them. After a short while, Rekha finished her statements, and Pal was struck by how natural her voice sounded, almost like that of a native Hindi speaker. She signed a five-year contract with him, and he and his brother Shatrujeet Pal would each star in four of her films.
Personal life and off-screen work
Rekha wed industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal, who was located in Delhi, in 1990. Aggarwal founded the kitchenware company Hotline and was a self-made businessman. Biographers of Rekha claim that she was unaware of his mental health issues until after their marriage, and that he is thought to have battled depression for a considerable amount of time. His mutual friend and fashion designer Bina Ramani introduced him to Rekha, calling him her “crazy fan.” On March 4, 1990, they were married. A few months later, while she was in London, he committed suicide, having made multiple attempts before, leaving the note, “Don’t blame anyone.” That was the period when the media ridiculed her the most, which one journalist described as “the deepest trough in her life.” Speaking of, Bhawana Somaaya noted the time of.
Bio
Real Name
Bhanurekha Ganesan
Nickname
The Bollywood Queen, Rekhaji, Madame X
Profession
Actress
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)
in centimeters- 168 cm
in meters- 1.68 m
in Feet Inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)
in Kilograms- 60 kg
in Pounds- 132 lbs
Figure Measurements (approx.)
34-28-34
Eye Colour
Brown
Hair Colour
Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth
10 October 1954 (Sunday)
Age (as of 2022)
68 Years
Birthplace
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac sign
Libra
Signature
Nationality
Indian
Hometown
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
School
Church Park Convent, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Debut
As a Child Artist- Rangula Ratnam (Telugu, 1966)
As Female Lead- Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999 (Kannada, 1969)
Writing Poetry, Doing Yoga, Making Charcoal Sketches
Controversies
• 15-year-old Rekha became a victim of a controversy during the shoot of her ‘supposed’ debut film, Anjana Safar. According to an excerpt from Rekha’s biography, the scene featuring Rekha and Biswajeet Chatterjee, the male lead, was supposed to be a short romantic scene with no intimate/offensive actions. However, when the camera rolled, Biswajeet grabbed Rekha and started to smooch her. The director kept yelling ‘cut’ but the lead actor was in no mood to stop. The Biography further alleges that both the actor and the director had planned out this heinous act for their personal and commercial benefits respectively.
• It is a common Known fact that Rekha had a love fling with actor Vinod Mehr. According to reports, the duo got married in a secret ceremony in Kolkata. But, when the groom took Rekha to his house, his mother acted highly hostile to her. She reportedly pushed Rekha away when the actor tried to touch her mother-in-law’s feet. She refused to let the new ‘bride’ enter the house and kept abusing and humiliating Rekha who kept standing at the door. Vinod tried to keep matters under control but his mother was too agitated. His mother even took off her sandals and almost assaulted Rekha with it.
• Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh were getting married on 22nd January 1980. Their wedding ceremony, which was being attended by a number of notable Bollywood personalities also included the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and his wife, Jaya Bachchan. Suddenly, Rekha stormed into the venue; dressed up in a white Sari with a Red Bindi on forehead and Sindoor on her hair, Rekha headed directly in Amitabh Bachchan’s direction and confronted him for around 5 minutes. Meanwhile, Jaya could hardly bear this sight and eventually gave way to tears. To date, the exact conversation between the two is not known and has thus given way to absurd speculations.
• According to the book- Rekha: The Untold Story, Rekha’s late entrepreneur husband, Mukesh Agarwal, was a patient of chronic depression and was even seeing a psychiatrist for the same. Just after 7-months of their marriage, cracks started to appear in the relationship as Mukesh began exhibiting erratic behavior. He kept Rekha in the dark about his failing business, became too overbearing and started embarrassing her by leaving his work in Delhi and hanging around on her sets for no reason. A few days later, On October 2, 1990, Mukesh committed suicide by hanging himself to his bedroom’s ceiling fan. People all over the country started blaming and hating her and even declared her a man-eater ‘witch’.
• Rekha and Kajol had shot for the cover of a popular magazine back in 90s, where the two ladies tucked themselves into one sweater. The cover of the magazine had created quite an uproar throughout the country. However, there has been no explanation given for the idea behind the shoot.
• On seeing Hrithik Roshan at the red carpet of an award function, Rekha got so excited that when she leaned in to greet him, she almost had an ‘accidental’ lip-lock.
Favourites
Actress
Kangana Ranaut
Actor
Dilip Kumar
Colours
Golden, Red
Boys, Affairs and More
Sexual Orientation
In July 2023, some media reports claimed that ‘Rekha: The Untold Story,’ a biography on Rekha by Yasser Usman, insinuated a romantic and possibly sexual relationship between Rekha and her manager, Farzana. Following this, Yasser Usman took to Twitter to rubbish the claims. He wrote
“The quotes alleging a ‘live-in relationship’ ascribed to my book ‘Rekha The Untold Story‘ are a complete fabrication, falsification and misrepresentation evidently intended to create sensationalism. I vehemently assert that the quotes mentioned in the media articles are entirely absent from my book.”
Marital Status
Divorced
Affairs/Boyfriends
Biswajit Chatterjee, Actor
Late Vinod Mehra, Former Actor
Sajid Khan, Actor
Late Navin Nischol, Actor
Jeetendra, Actor
Shatrughan Sinha, Actor
Yash Kohli, Film Producer
Amitabh Bachchan, Actor
Late Mukesh Agarwal, Entrepreneur
Akshay Kumar, Actor (Rumoured)
Husband/Spouse
Late Vinod Mehra (rumored)
Late Mukesh Agarwal (m. January 1990; d. October 1990)
