Rekha: Still Khubsoorat at 58

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• Rekha's aakhon ki masti still enchants her fans as she turns 58. Even after four decades, her love affair with Bollywood continues unabated. From mega star to Rajya Sabha MP, this beautiful actress has defied age and continued to re-invent herself with time. But what has remained unchanged is her mystique, her sensuality that puts her in a different league from other actors and actresses. We take a look at the life of this enchantress who will always remain our eternal Umaro Jaan.

  

• Rekha was born on October 10, 1954 to legendary Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli. With acting in her DNA, it was only natural that she should look to the silver screen.
  
  However, it wasn't easy. The actress has led a controversial life and it began with her birth.

  

• Rekha's parents were not married and her father Gemini Ganesan refused to acknowledge her. On her part, Rekha kept her identity secret and revealed her origins and the story of her father's neglect much later in her career. She was famously estranged from her father after she made it big and ignored his attempts at reconciliation.

  

• Credited as Baby Bhanurekha in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam, Rekha made her debut at age 12. Rekha took her first step in Hindi films in 1969 with the movie Anjana Safar (later retitled Do Shikari). She bagged her first leading role with Sawan Bhadon (1970) opposite Navin Nischol.
  
  The film was a big hit and Rekha became a star overnight.

  

• Despite her new-found stardom, Rekha's first few years in Bollywood were harrowing. She struggled with the Hindi language and was bewildered by the barrage of criticism about her dark complexion, voluptuous figure and "South Indian looks." It took a complete reinvention of her image, helped by a strict regime of diet and yoga, for Rekha to be acknowledged as one of Bollywood's beauties.

  

• After a string of mostly forgettable films, Rekha's breakthrough came with 1976's Do Anjaane. Critics heaped praise on her performance as an ambitious wife, but Do Anjaane, was notable for one other reason – it was her first film opposite frequent collaborator and rumoured off-screen paramour Amitabh Bachchan.

  

• Rekha delivered a power-packed, realistic and sensitive performance as the traumatised rape victim in the 1978 film, Ghar, one of her many woman-oriented films. Ghar earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards, her very first.

  

• Then came a blockbuster hit opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.In the immensely popular film, Rekha's "smouldering intensity" as the courtesan Zohra brought her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Filmfare Awards.

  

• The light-hearted family flick Khubsoorat (1980) allowed Rekha to showcase her comic timing. Her vivacious acting earned her the first Best Actress Award at the Filmfare Awards.

  

• Meanwhile, the professional and (widely reported personal) alliance with the married Amitabh Bachchan continued, generating several hit films and reams of gossip about their "relationship".

  

• Finally, in 1981, Yash Chopra made Silsila and executed a casting coup with Amitabh and Jaya playing a married couple and Rekha playing the 'other woman.'
  
  Silsila was widely considered a case of art imitating life and it was Rekha's last film with Amitabh Bachchan.

  

• But if her life off-screen was languishing,Rekha's career was blazing away, firing on all engines. She was mesmerising in 1981 film Umrao Jaan and her portrayal of the titular courtesan poetess won her the National Film Award for Best Actress.

  

• The latter parts of the '80s saw her venture into art house cinema with independent directors.
  
  Shyam Benegal's award-winning drama, Kalyug (1981), Govind Nihalani's Vijeta(1982), Girish Karnad's Utsav(1984) and Gulzar's Ijaazat (1987) were some of Rekha's memorable films from the time.

  

• One of her other notable films, revenge tale Khoon Bhari Maang, showed a completely different side of the actress. She played the role of a shy, homely woman in the first half, who transforms herself in to a femme-fatale later in the film.
  
  The film was directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan and was a remake of the Australian mini-series Return to Eden (1983).
  
  The movie was very well received by the critics and fans alike and won Rekha her second Filmfare Best Actress Award in 1988.

  

• Rekha's career graph showed a dip at the dawn of '90s and she started losing lead roles to younger actresses.
  
  Once again, she put her talent for reinvention to good use with roles in Mira Nair's risqu Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) and the commercially successful Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) opposite Akshay Kumar. In the latter, she played the role of a gangster (which won her another award) and earned her the name Madam X.
  
  Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi was a major grosser and earned Rekha several awards, including the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the Star Screen Award for Best Villain.

  

• In 2001, she played the role of Ramdulari, a simple village woman, in Rajkumar Santoshi's Lajja, based on the plight of women in rural India.
  
  In that same year she played the senior wife to Karisma Kapur's new bride in another Shyam Benegal movieZubeidaa.

  

• Next, she was seen with Preity Zinta in Kundan Shah's Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002), playing the role of Sarita, a betrayed woman who takes under her custody the illegitimate daughter of her husband.
  
  In 2003, she played Hrithik Roshan's mother in Koi...Mil Gaya.
  
  She gave stellar performances even in her limited appearance in films like Parineeta (2005) and Krrish (2006).

  

• In 2010, Rekha was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri for her contribution to Indian cinema.
  
  She is also the recipient of Sony Golden Glory Award (2005), Stardust Awards - Role Model of the year (2006), Deenanath Mangeshkar Award (2006), IMPPA (Indian Motion Pictures' producers Association) Award for outstanding contribution to Bollywood (2008) and Raj Kapoor Pratibha Gaurav Puraskar (2009) amongst many other honours.

  

• In 1990, Rekha married Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Aggarwal, a relationship that ended in tragedy when Mr Aggarwal committed suicide a year later.

  

• The actress was last seen in the 2010 film Sadiyaan: Boundaries Divide... Love Unites. The film delved into the life of a Hindu/Sikh family that face challenges when their adopted son falls in love with a Muslim girl.

  

• In April this year, Rekha was nominated to the Rajya Sabha with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

  

• Rekha will next be seen reprising the role of Sonia Mehra in the sequel to Krissh titled Krissh 3. The film is set for a 2013 release.

  

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She is and always will be a timeless beauty. Last heard, Umrao Jaan director Muzaffar Ali was planning a sequel to the film and trying very hard to get Rekha to be a part of the cast.

Here's wishing the Khubsoorat actress a very Happy Birthday!