Rekha was labelled as a 'national witch' after her husband Mukesh Aggarwal killed himself using her dupatta in 1990.
Rekha, who is one of the most celebrated actresses in the history of Bollywood, still turns heads with her style, grace and class. Fans can’t take their eyes off every time she steps out wearing a Kanjeevaram saree. But do you know that she was rejected for her looks, and was body shamed during the initial phase of her career?
Well! If not, today we will tell you about the struggles that Rekha, often dubbed as an enigma, the Greta Garbo of Bollywood, faced during the start of her career. The actress, who is known for her failed love life, has often been mentioned as a ‘loner’. She was also called a ‘witch’ by an actress, sadly none of these tags do justice to her talent and her personality.
Early Life
Rekha was born as Bhanurekha Ganesan, the daughter of Tamil superstar Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actor Pushpavalli. As per reports, she was pushed into acting to support her family and therefore, she debuted at the age of 12 with the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam in 1966. The actress did her first adult film when she was only 15, these years had been traumatic for young Rekha as she was forced to grow up at such an early age, much before time.
Sexual harassment
Rejection was the constant companion for Rekha even after making Bollywood debut with the 1970’s hit film Saawan. During this time, she was also shooting for another film Anjana Safar released as Do Shikaari, unfortunately, the actress had a really bad experience while shooting for the film. As per reports, Rekha was forcibly kissed by the film’s hero who was much older Biswajeet while shooting a romantic scene. What was not informed to Rekha, the director and the film's lead actor Biswajeet Chatterjee had it planned. Without letting Rekha know, Biswajeet suddenly smooched her in the scene all of a sudden and that went on for almost 5 minutes. It left Rekha shocked and embarrassed as a teenager.
In today’s time, the incident would have been called sexual harassment, sadly it was called a funny incident back then. This incident finds a mention in Rekha: An Untold Story by Yasser Usman.
Trolled for her dark complexion
The actress remained the butt of everyone’s jokes because of her colour, and language. While she was constantly body-shamed, Rekha didn’t stop working on her dreams. Well! In today’s world, it would be called racism and body shaming.
Called as Witch
In 1984, Rekha sparked dating rumours with Sanjay Dutt during their film Zameen Akash. Reportedly, they grew close with each passing day after their film but never spoke about it. But Sanjay Dutt’s mom Nargis once reacted to the controversy and said Rekha used to give signals to men and called her a witch. As per BollywoodShaadis.com, in 1976, Nargis said, “She (Rekha) used to give such signals to men that she could be easily available. In the eyes of some people, she is nothing less than a witch. Sometimes I think I understand her. I’ve worked with a lot of children with a lot of psychological problems in my time. She’s lost. She needs a strong man.”
There were rumours that Sanjay and Rekha were married to each other, however, the actress denied those baseless rumours in her biography by Yasser Usman.
Labelled as a ‘national vamp’
After her husband Mukesh Aggarwal killed himself using her dupatta in 1990, Rekha was labelled as a ‘national vamp’. In an interview, Mukesh’s mother said, “ woh daayan mere bete ko kha gayi. Bhagwan use kabhi maaf nahi karega.’ (That witch devoured my son. God will never forgive her.)”
Over these years, rejections and disappointments in love life became her constant companion.
Overcame all obstacles to live a luxurious life
After facing so many struggles, Rekha now lives a luxurious life away from the limelight. She lives in a Rs 100 crore bungalow in Bandra, Mumbai, and reportedly has a collection of cars that include a Mercedes-Benz S-Class (Rs. 2.17 crores), Audi A8 (Rs. 1.63 crores), Honda City (Rs. 13lakh), BMW i7 Electric (Rs. 2.03 crores ), and a Rolce Royce Ghost (Rs. 6.01 crores).
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