Whatever Happened To Rekha's Ambition To Direct A Film?

Ali Peter John

I firmly believe that if there is one woman who has had the good fortune and who has got by her side during the last 50 years, who has had all her or almost all her ambitions fulfilled, except for her ambition to find her dream man who she called Him or her God, it is undoubtedly the most mesmerizing and mysterious woman of our times, Rekha. I may be called names, criticized or condemned for writing about Rekha without end, but what do I do about a woman who keeps shining In the LimeLight even when she is 60 and is not even  doing any films at this point of time? What do I do about a woman whose entrance at any place dazzles and electrifies the whole atmosphere and changes the rhythm of the heart beats of people of all ages and people from all walks of life who are inspired to believe that there has to be a God if woman like her has been created and the woman like her cannot be a creation of mere mortals, but has to be an inspired creation of an almighty power which no one has seen and so has created this exceptional woman to make mortals and earthly being wonder what the glory and the Splendor of almighty power could be? What do I say about this woman who has made the best of painters paint her, the best of poets write long poems about her and yet have managed to say nothing about her and directors and cinematographers have tried to capture her ethereal beauty and have not been successful about describing her beauty, which is beyond the description of the mother of God, all the saints or even the angels in heaven which is a piece of fantasy or fiction created to lure innocent or even dumb human beings to keep away from what is called a sin which is a more powerful word to describe something bad evil or wrong? What do I say about a woman who I had first seen as a not so good looking woman outside the Ajanta Hotel in Juhu and who is now the epitome of beauty, the beauty of the soul, the body and above all the spirit or call it the power of the mind of a human being?

Why do I still go into raptures when I talk about this woman who is no ordinary woman? I talk about her because she has fought all the hurdles in her way created by the other human beings, because of their not being able to be Rekha, the woman who knows no line, no boundary or hills to cross, overcome and conquer.

Some years ago, she talked about being the chosen one of God and Him, the two tall and mighty powers she said would always help her tide over every crisis, chaos and crucial or dicey circumstances. In the same breath, she had talked about how she had emerged  not only as an actress, but emerged as a painter (how I wish I could see everyone the world could see some of your paintings, which I am sure can never be the paintings of an ordinary or even or an extraordinary painter, but the paintings of the spirit touched by the colours of God). She said she was a gardener, a practitioner of yoga, an interior designer and even a singer which she has proved in and by her rendition of some of the soulful nazm of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and other renowned Urdu poets which have made her audience scream out in ecstasy,“oh my God", which proves the height to which a 13 year old girl who landed in Bombay with no goal and nowhere to go has reached only by her own self-discovered talent and will power and of course inspiration of Him and her God.

She was at the same time that she revealed one of her hidden ambitions. It was her ambition to direct a film of a role. She had never had the good fortune to work with Raj Kapoor, the greatest showman, even in her rich span of over 400 films, but she always had the ambition and the urge to work in the film directed by Raj Kapoor. And then Raj Kapoor died in the late 80s, she also saw with it the death of her most precious dream, the dream to work with the only director who she said knew the soul and the body of a woman, the truth and nothing but the truth about a woman.

It is quite some time since Rekha talked about directing a film and make a film inspired by the films of her favourite director, Raj Kapoor. Whatever happened to that dream, Rekha ji? I am sure you have the courage, the confidence and the conviction to take that bold step which I strongly feel should be very easy for you. I have seen your growth and your metamorphosis from the ‘maine aisa to nahin kaha tha' days to the day today when you have become an unbelievable phenomenon who has still got miles to cross to reach the peaks made out by Him and your God. One of the prime reasons, I would love to live a little longer is to see you Don the director's cap, sit in the director's chair and shout out your orders and I am sure even the most hardened mountains, the frozen lakes, the wind and the howling winds will only be too pleased to listen to and follow the orders of the chosen one of God.

All my life, I have dreamt of women taking charge from men who I believe are busy making a mess of god's wonderful world. Why don't you add your fire of hope to my dream, dear Rekha Ma'am?