In late 1979, I was working at the Hotel Chola Sheraton in Chennai.
One night, when I reported for work, I found the place in a tizzy. As the girls in reception told the story, Kamal Haasan and Rekha Ganesan were in the latter's room in the hotel when Kamal's then wife Vani Ganapathy landed up and gave her husband a public dressing down.
At that point in time, I was more into cricket than films, so Rekha and, for that matter, Kamal, were just names that meant little more than an excuse to chat up the reception girls. Who, as it turned out, had all the dope -- Rekha was the daughter of Gemini Ganesan; she was big in Mumbai; she was in Chennai to shoot for Meendum Kokila co-starring Kamal and Sridevi...
Weeks later, I learnt that for some unspecified reason, Rekha had been tossed from that project, and that Malayalam actress Unni Mary had been drafted to play her role.
By the mid-1980s, I was a 'film journalist' ..
For film journalists at that point in time, Queen Sri was the ultimate. Only, she just could not be got. She shot a lot in the studios in and around Kodambakkam, where I spent all my days and most of my nights, but for all the good that did, she could as well have been on the moon.
On the sets, she was regal; before the cameras, amazing. To the journalist, and the public, she was aloof.
There was this Praetorian guard around her, in the fashion of a monarchy, an outer ring of assorted functionaries, the inner circle of makeup man, dress designer, hair stylist, and the like, and finally, next to the throne, the ultimate, insurmountable, obstacle -- her mother.
Directors like Bharati Raja, who had worked with her during her early years, and some of her Tamil co-stars from that period, talked of how 'Sri' had completely reinvented herself after switching to Mumbai.
The reason, they said, was Rekha. As they told the story, 'Re' had taken Sridevi under her wing, when the latter began acting in Hindi films; the motivation, they said, was that Rekha had traumatic memories of landing up in Mumbai knowing neither the language, the people, nor the ethos; having gone through that experience, she wanted to help a fellow South Indian in similar plight.
Rekha, the Southside film people said, had taught Sri all there was to know about the industry. Rekha, they said, was responsible for teaching Sri the grammar of style, makeup, and department. Rekha was responsible for Sridevi's transformation from naïve, gawky duckling to screen stunner.
Rare pic: Sridevi, Kamal Haasan and unni mary
Source: https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/rekha/20031010.
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