EK BAAR PHIR WOHI REKHA

LOGO NE USSKO GAALIYAAN DI , DHUTKARA AUR GANDE NAAM DEKAR AAG MEIN JALAANE KI KOSHISH KI. LEKIN UNNKO KYAA PATAA THAA KI WOH AAG MEIN JAL KAR AUR BHI CHAMAKNEWAALIĹ THI - BY ALI PETER JOHN

A girl who was hardly in her teens had landed in Bombay in the late sixties to chase her dream to be an actress.

She had no contacts or connections with anyone in the city of dreams (and sometimes nightmares).

She had to live in a hotel in Juhu called Ajanta Hotel, which incidentally was to be the office of Amitabh Bachchan’s company, ABCL years later.

Some people in the industry came to know about her and the circumstances she was in and soon there were producers who lined up at the hotel and the girl who did not know how the film industry in Bombay works, met one and all and instead of getting work, she got a bad name because the men she met spread all kinds of wild stories about her.

It was the beginning of a stormy life for Bhanurekha Ganesan who had done one or two films in Tamil and whose parents were “the Adonis of the South”, Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli.

It took her very little time to be known when she had a secretary who used to work as the secretary of Dadamoni Ashok Kumar.

Controversy caught her by her neck with her very her first film in which she had to do a kissing scene with Biswajeet, which she did reluctantly and it seemed like a never-ending kiss because of Biswajeet who took full advantage of the scene and her sheer vulnerability.

1. The kiss made her a known name even though it was only because of that kiss. No one cared or talked about the new comer called Rekha.

2. It was only when she did a film called “Sawan Bhadon” with Navin Nischol as her hero. The film was a silver jubilee hit, but there was again no talk about Rekha as an actress. If at all they talked about her, it was only to call her names like “ugly duckling” and “kaali bhains”. Her time had still to come and it was very far off.

3. She continued under the most difficult circumstances, but had to wait for her being recognised till she did some good films, but on the whole, it was a tough life for her with filmmakers exploiting her in every way and her co-stars and other colleagues maligning her in every way possible, but she learned how to take it all in her stride because she knew only one thing and that was to be known as an actress who made a difference.

I have seen and heard about how some of her producers, directors and co-actors speak maliciously about her. It was a rough tide for the sea of talent that was waiting to be exploited and explored.

The bad times lasted even though she now had all the fame and fortune. But there was a massive surge in the sea of talent when one man entered her life and changed it upside down his name was Amitabh Bachchan, but she called him “God” or just “He” or “Him”. Life was never the same again. The woman who was neglected and rejected was accepted and respected.

Now, there were only good films that came to her and every filmmaker whether in Bombay or in the South wanted to work with her.

There was a transformation in her life and she proved that there could be a reincarnation if the universe conspired and some good people joined the universe in the conspiracy to change a life.

The Rekha who now walked the world made all those who once mocked at her and made some of her now bowed before her and treated her like a queen and some even called her a goddess.

There was a time when some of the biggest names refused to accept her as an actress, now those same men and women all praise for the woman and the actress in her.

Jeetendra who she once called “My God in white shoes” was shooting for what was going to be their last film together once told me, “Kya hogaya iss ladki ka! kal hum sab isko ek khilona samajte the, aaj usse baat karne ko darr lagta hai”.

They had once done several films together and in almost all of them, it was the same Jeetendra who use to recommend her name.

She was now working with directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Yash Chopra and even the art filmmakers like the late Girish Karnad and Govind Nihlani.

She had worked her own magic on herself and could look stunning and she once told me that she used the minimum makeup and she had her own material grown in her own garden which she used for her makeup.

The girl from Chennai who couldn’t speak a line of English was now capable of holding delegation from Hollywood and France and other countries spellbound.

I was helping out a one such delegation from France and the only thing they wanted to do in Bombay was to meet Rekha.

I took the bus-load of filmmakers and actors to Film City where Rekha was shooting for the late Girish Karnad’s “Utsav” and she spoke to the French delegation for over an hour in fluent English and at the end, the leader of the delegation explained, “Madam, what are you doing here?

You should be in Hollywood and doing the best roles there”. She thanked the delegation for all the praises showered on her, but finally asked the delegation if they had met an Indian actor called Amitabh Bachchan and when they showed ignorance about the name, she said, “If you have not met Amitabh Bachchan and you still don’t what to know him, you don’t know anything about Indian cinema” and she almost got very angry with them and said, “if I knew that you people don’t know Amitabh Bachchan, I would not have wasted my time talking to you” and she walked away without even saying good bye to the delegation and they were puzzled with the change in her attitude and behaviour.

The girl from Chennai was nominated to the House of elders (Rajya Sabha). She hardly attended any of the sessions, but whenever she did, she created a stir among all the leaders who were genuinely elders but couldn’t take their eyes away from her.

She creates the same kind of stir wherever she goes. She has grown so special that when she presented an award to Nawazuddin Siddiqui, he said on stage that he would treasure the trophy he had received because it was touched by Rekha.

Rekha doesn’t have any films on her hands. There are two completed films which are for reasons difficult to understand, “Aag Ka Dariya” with the “ultimate hero” Dilip Kumar and “Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hain” with her foe turned friend, Shatrughan Sinha. Her only regret as far as work is concerned is that she could never work with Dev Anand.

She is 68 now, but gives a clear complex to all the young actresses of today and all the men, whatever they are or whoever they may be.

EVERY LIFE HAS A LINE WHICH HAS TO BE FOLLOWED. BUT IN THE STORY OF THIS MYSTERIOUS LIFE WHOSE NAME ITSELF IS REKHA, IT IS TO IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT WHERE AND HOW THIS LIFE WILL LEAD REKHA 

REKHAJI KO JAANNE KI KHUB KOSHISHE KI GAYI HAI . LEKIN SACHHI REKHA KO JANNA MUMKIN HI NAHI , NAAMUMKIN HAI