Actors - Rekha

	Actors - Rekha

Rekha (born October 10, 1954) is a well-known Bollywood actress.

Early life

Born in 1954, in Madras, India, Bhanurekha Ganesan (later known simply as "Rekha") is the daughter of renowned Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and the Telugu actress Pushpavalli. Her father hailed from an orthodox Smartha Brahmin family belonging to the Mulukanadu sub-caste but chose to take up acting as a profession. He enjoyed phenomenal success. Rekha was to follow in his footsteps..

Rekha's parents were not married, and her father did not acknowledge his paternity during her childhood. It was during the early 1970s, when she was looking for a footing in the Bollywood film industry, that she revealed her origins. Later, at the peak of her career, Rekha told a magazine interviewer that her father's neglect still rankled and that she had ignored his efforts at reconciliation.

Film Career

Rekha appeared as a child actor in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966). She took up acting as a career with two films released in 1970: the Telugu film Amma Kosam and the Hindi Sawan Bhadon, neither of which were successful. She remained in Bollywood, struggling to find her footing in an extremely competitive industry. She appeared in several successful films, such as Kahani Kismat Ki, Raampur Ka Lakshman and Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye, but first attained real fame in 1978 with Muqaddar ka Sikandar (1978), in which she co-starred with Amitabh Bachchan. She went on to co-star with Amitabh in a number of 1980s hits. The most scandalous of these was Silsila
, in which she played Amitabh's mistress and Amitabh's real-life wife, Jaya Bhaduri, played his wife.

She was rumoured to be Amitabh's real-life flame and the film-column gossip may have contributed to her success. However, even critics had to admit that she had worked hard to perfect her Hindi and her acting, and that she had transformed herself from a "plump" duckling to a "swan" in the early 1980s. Rekha credits this transformation to yoga, a nutritious diet, and a regular, disciplined life.

After her "Bachchan era", Rekha took on increasingly serious, even adventurous roles. She starred in heroine-oriented films such as Khoobsoorat, Khoon Bhari Maang, Umrao Jaan
, and Mujhe Insaaf Chaahiye. She was also willing to work with independent and "art film" directors, in films such as Utsav, Basera, and Ijaazat
.

In recent years, she is has appeared in relatively few movies, usually as a mother or a widow rather than a glamour queen. She has won praise for her acting in films such as Zubeidaa
, Koi Mil Gaya and Parineeta
.

Awards

Rekha has won four Filmfare Awards.

2003, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
1997, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi
1987, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Khoon Bhari Maang
1981, Filmfare Best Actress Award, Khubsoorat

She also won the coveted National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Umrao Jaan
.

She also won a Star Screen Award for Best Villain for her performance in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi and a Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2006.

Personal life

The young Rekha filled the gossip columns with rumours of affairs with actors Jeetendra, Vinod Mehra, Kiran Kumar, and Amitabh Bachchan. It is also alleged that she has fostered an illegitimate child with Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. In 1990 she married Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Aggarwal. He committed suicide in 1991. Rekha currently lives a secluded life in Mumbai.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Rekha ]

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