Mumbai: One of the living legends of Bollywood, Rekha turned 59 today, and yet in the pre-autumn of her life, she still wows her audience with her presence and beauty. The Umrao Jaan lady has just no match for her beauty in Bollywood. Here we bring you a few facts about Rekha, who dominated Bollywood for a long time with her films, her relationships, and her popularity among fans. Rekha was born to Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli. Her father didn't acknowledge her paternity during childhood. Though Rekha never dreamed of becoming an actress, yet the poor financial status of her family forced her to step into the big, bad world of Bollywood. Initiallty Rekha worked in B and C grade Telugu flicks. She had seven brother and sisters, but no one was close enough to her. The actress revealed that when she returned home dead tired after work, her brother used to force her to go out for more work.Rekha was a big fan of Mumtaz and Jeetendra. She loved Mumtaz's dance and used to imitate her acting skills in front of mirror.During her initial years, Rekha wasn't considered well in her looks and was criticised as an 'ugly duckling'. In an interview Rekha said that because of her dark complexion and south Indian features she was considered an ugly duckling in Bollywood. She was determined to change people's attitude towards her and she did. In the late 70s she went through a transformation, courtesy Amitabh Bachchan, and later emerged as a sex symbol. She became choosy while selecting the flicks and in 1976 flick “Do Anjaane” was considered as a ‘performance-oriented' flick of Rekha. Her transformed look and attitude was loved by the spectators.Just two years later, flick ‘Ghar' brought her into the contenders' list for the best actress at Filmfare Award. Her performance as a rape victim was considered as a milestone.The same year , the big blockbuster “Mukaddar Ka Sikandar” came with Rekha opposite Amitabh Bachchan, then the highest grosser of the decade. Rekha then joined the big league of Bollywood actresses. Rekha during her shoot in the flick was scolded by Big B for not remembering the dialogues and was warned to learn it in her house and then come to the sets.Few of you may know, that Rekha love to sing and in ‘Khoobsurat' she hummed two songs as requested by legendary RD Burman. The ‘Khoobsurat' girl in 1980 did magic with her comic timing. Rekha was unlike in her performance in comparison to her last acts. Nothing less than a Filmfare Award could have honoured the lady. And so she won her first biggy Award for the flick. It wouldn't be wise if we don't mention the Rekha-Amitabh love saga. The duo worked in numerous flicks and like their on-screen chemistry their off-screen chemistry gained much space in numerous gossip columns. Over this the actress was also criticized for sharing such a bond with a married man. All this finally ended in Yash Chopra's love saga ‘Silsila', which also had Big B's wife Jaya Bachchan in the love triangle.Her milestone performance in ‘Umraojaan' won her National Film Award. Not well versed in Hindi, Rekha took some Urdu classes for the role and displayed her range of delivery in Urdu in the flick. Rekha loved 'Yeh kya jagah hai doston' song from this flick and used to hum in her home.Rekha in an interview said that she considered as a the turning point of her career when she won the second Filmfare Award for ‘Khoon Bhari Maang', which was considered to be the first women-centric flick. It was also found that Rakesh Roshan vowed by Rekha's photoshoot for a magazine, took her in the flick., while the actress did most of her photoshoots in her house. In 1990, Rekha married to industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal. He committed suicide after a year of marriage, when she was in the United States at that time. People close to her explain this as the toughest time of her life, as questions were raised like what led Mukesh to suicide just within one year of their marriage? Weren't they happy together? After Mukesh's suicide Rekha sifted to Bandstand house in Mumbai Bandra west. But she is rarely seen inside or outside the house.At present, Rekha is also a nominated Rajya Sabha member with cricketer Sachin tendulkar. While she was taking oath, the cameras constantly focussed on Jaya Bachchan. Like Big B, Jaya too tires not to come across Rekha. So when she came to know about Rekha getting the seat just besides her, Jaya changed her seat, while two years back they both seen hugging each other at a launch of a book in Mumbai.In 2010, Rekha was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri for her contribution to Indian cinema. A Tale of Love', 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi', Lajja, Pakeeza, Dil Hai Tumhara ‘Koi Mil Gaya' Krishh and in other flicks, now Rekha is mostly seen playing supporting actors role. She was last seen in Bollywood film 'Sadiyaan' (2010).Rekha will next be seen reprising the role of Sonia Mehra in the sequel to Krissh titled Krissh 3. The film is set for a 2013 release. Rekha, is indeed still the “Khoobsurat” lady in Bollywood and will remain for many more years to come.Check out her more pics:
Updated on: October 10, 2013 13:25 IST
