Will The Big B And Rekha Work Magic again

The Big B is perhaps the only man in India or may be anywhere else in the world who will be the most written about and talked about man in the media. First, it was just print, now it is both print and television. There is not a single day as far as I can remember when he has not made it to all the hundreds of newspapers, tabloids and magazines in all the twenty odd languages and on the hundreds of TV channels in all the major languages. They have all had something to say about something he had done if or he has done or if he has not, their fertile imagination works overtime to create some of the most interesting and sensational stories about him or even pass judgment or express their opinion about him both on his career and personal front. The way things are I will not be surprised if the Big B will go down into the pages of the Guinness book of records as the man on whom millions of pages, words and celluloid have been used.

Now only recently he spoke about Rekha after many years and it is not only the media but the industry, the masses and almost the entire country who have read or heard about what he has said who are making a big hoo haa about what he has said. However the people most excited are some big filmmakers and writers. They have taken his willingness to work with Rekha again and the freedom he has given to Abhishek to work with her if he wants to very seriously. The films they have in mind are frantically taking shape and even as their minds go wild my mind goes back to the glorious days, the days when Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha formed the most loveable and saleable leading pair in Hindi films, a time when their names spelt sheer magic.

I think it all started both Amitabh and Rekha were still struggling to find their places. It was the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee cast them together in a film called Namak Haram, the Hindi film tribute to Hollywood's 'Beckett'. Rajesh Khanna was the superstar then and Rajesh and Amitabh had earlier worked together in the same Hrishida's Anand. The story of the film was based on the tussle between Rajesh and Amitabh. Rekha was the heroine to sing some songs and speak a few insignificant lines and she look far far different from the gorgeous and ravishing Rekha she later turned into.

Amitabh and Rekha came up and made it as stars at the same time and they were teamed up in a number of films they became memorable just because of them, their presence made all the difference to the film. There was that extraordinary chemistry about them which was very obvious whenever they came together. The one time they made a very big difference was in Dulal Guha's "Do Anjaane" it was one of their first films where they proved how good they were as a team in love and facing the effects and after effects of love. Then came one of those normal or what are called routine masala films with all the romance, music and action called "Mr. Natvarlal". The film would certainly have been another run of the mill film if it was not for Amitabh and Rekha. There was that something blowing and sparkling every time they came together in a scene and a especially a song which were moments they brought life back to what was we believed was romance till then. That kind of magic between two stars has still to be found.

There was 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', a film made by Prakash Mehra, a film which played an important part in making Amitabh a superstar and later even into the latest living legend. Rekha played a courtesan who had just a couple of dancing scenes and a few scenes with Amitabh. It was these few scenes that made the film one of the most memorable films mainly because of the intense romantic scenes between Amitabh and Rekha and the scene in which Rekha dyeing in Amitabh's arms and that look in her eyes made love memorable.

They did some other routine films like 'Suhag' which were guaranteed hits at the box office but it was the romantic doctor Yash Chopra who created a sensation when he created a casting coup and brought Amitabh, Rekha and Jaya Bachchan who had gone into retirement together in Silsila. It was what many called a slice of true life alive and it created double the sensation because the media and the entire country was talking about what they described as the great runners between Amitabh and Rekha in real life. Silsila is a classic and one of the best films made by Dr. Yash Chopra. This film also unfortunately turned out to be the last film with Amitabh and Rekha. Amitabh took a break from films and even when he came back he worked with all the heroines from Hema Malini to Tabu and Jiah Khan but never worked with the woman everyone was waiting for him to work with, Rekha. Amitabh never spoke about Rekha in all the interviews he kept on giving while Rekha left no opportunity to mention him directly or indirectly. I remember the late Amjad Khan promising to write a book about all that he knew about what he called 'two of the greatest human beings who paid tribute to love' but he died before he could even write the first sentence. It looked like a closed chapter for some but one of the most memorable chapter for many. And now with Amitabh talking about Rekha and even his being ready to work with her provided the right opportunities came, all times of questions, speculations and predictions are being made. Will Amitabh and Rekha come together again? Will their magic work again after so many years? That is more than just another normal million dollar question?