Rekha (Actress) Height, Age, Affairs, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio
Real Name	Bhanurekha Ganesan ^[1]IBTimes
Nickname	The Bollywood Queen, Rekhaji, Madame X
Profession	Actress
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 60 kg in Pounds- 132 lbs
Figure Measurements (approx.)	34-28-34
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Personal Life
Date of Birth	10 October 1954 (Sunday)
Age (as of 2022)	68 Years
Birthplace	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac sign	Libra
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
School	Church Park Convent, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Debut	As a Child Artist– Rangula Ratnam (Telugu, 1966) As Female Lead– Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999 (Kannada, 1969)
Family	Father– Gemini Ganesan (Tamil Actor) Mother– Pushpavalli (Telugu Actress) Brother– Sathish Kumar Ganesan Sisters– Kamala Selvaraj, Radha, Jaya Sreedhar, Vijaya Chamundeswari, Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesh
Religion	Hinduism
Address	Sea Spring, Bungalow No.2, B.J. Road, Bandra (West), Mumbai. 400050
Hobbies	Writing Poetry, Doing Yoga, Making Charcoal Sketches
Controversies	• 15-year-old Rekha became a victim of a controversy during the shoot of her ‘supposed’ debut film, Anjana Safar. According to an excerpt from Rekha’s biography, the scene featuring Rekha and Biswajeet Chatterjee, the male lead, was supposed to be a short romantic scene with no intimate/offensive actions. However, when the camera rolled, Biswajeet grabbed Rekha and started to smooch her. The director kept yelling ‘cut’ but the lead actor was in no mood to stop. The Biography further alleges that both the actor and the director had planned out this heinous act for their personal and commercial benefits respectively. • It is a common Known fact that Rekha had a love fling with actor Vinod Mehra. According to reports, the duo got married in a secret ceremony in Kolkata. But, when the groom took Rekha to his house, his mother acted highly hostile to her. She reportedly pushed Rekha away when the actor tried to touch her mother-in-law’s feet. She refused to let the new ‘bride’ enter the house and kept abusing and humiliating Rekha who kept standing at the door. Vinod tried to keep matters under control but his mother was too agitated. His mother even took off her sandals and almost assaulted Rekha with it. • Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh were getting married on 22nd January 1980. Their wedding ceremony, which was being attended by a number of notable Bollywood personalities also included the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and his wife, Jaya Bachchan. Suddenly, Rekha stormed into the venue; dressed up in a white Sari with a Red Bindi on forehead and Sindoor on her hair, Rekha headed directly in Amitabh Bachchan’s direction and confronted him for around 5 minutes. Meanwhile, Jaya could hardly bear this sight and eventually gave way to tears. To date, the exact conversation between the two is not known and has thus given way to absurd speculations. • According to the book- Rekha: The Untold Story, Rekha’s late entrepreneur husband, Mukesh Agarwal, was a patient of chronic depression and was even seeing a psychiatrist for the same. Just after 7-months of their marriage, cracks started to appear in the relationship as Mukesh began exhibiting erratic behavior. He kept Rekha in the dark about his failing business, became too overbearing and started embarrassing her by leaving his work in Delhi and hanging around on her sets for no reason. A few days later, On October 2, 1990, Mukesh committed suicide by hanging himself to his bedroom’s ceiling fan. People all over the country started blaming and hating her and even declared her a man-eater ‘witch’. • Rekha and Kajol had shot for the cover of a popular magazine back in 90s, where the two ladies tucked themselves into one sweater. The cover of the magazine had created quite an uproar throughout the country. However, there has been no explanation given for the idea behind the shoot. • On seeing Hrithik Roshan at the red carpet of an award function, Rekha got so excited that when she leaned in to greet him, she almost had an ‘accidental’ lip-lock.
Favourites
Actress	Kangana Ranaut
Actor	Dilip Kumar
Colours	Golden, Red
Boys, Affairs and More
Sexual Orientation	In July 2023, some media reports claimed that ‘Rekha: The Untold Story,’ a biography on Rekha by Yasser Usman, insinuated a romantic and possibly sexual relationship between Rekha and her manager, Farzana. Following this, Yasser Usman took to Twitter to rubbish the claims. He wrote “The quotes alleging a ‘live-in relationship’ ascribed to my book ‘Rekha The Untold Story‘ are a complete fabrication, falsification and misrepresentation evidently intended to create sensationalism. I vehemently assert that the quotes mentioned in the media articles are entirely absent from my book.” ^[2]Koimoi
Marital Status	Divorced
Affairs/Boyfriends	Biswajit Chatterjee, Actor Late Vinod Mehra, Former Actor Sajid Khan, Actor Late Navin Nischol, Actor Jeetendra, Actor Shatrughan Sinha, Actor Yash Kohli, Film Producer Amitabh Bachchan, Actor Late Mukesh Agarwal, Entrepreneur Akshay Kumar, Actor (Rumoured)
Husband/Spouse	Late Vinod Mehra (rumored) Late Mukesh Agarwal (m. January 1990; d. October 1990)
Children	None
Money Factor
Net Worth	$30 million

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rekha

It is not known whether Rekha smokes or not.

It is unknown whether Rekha consumes alcohol.

Rekha, the offspring of the deceased South Indian actors Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli, is considered illegitimate. Additionally, her father, Gemini Ganesan, denied any acknowledgment of paternity towards Rekha.

From her father Gemini Ganesan, Rekha has a total of six half sisters, one half brother, and one full sister.

In her youth, Rekha, a passionate traveler, aspired to become an air hostess. Sadly, her dreams were shattered when she was declined due to her age being too young.

After being exposed to Irish nuns at her convent school, the idea of becoming a nun began to occupy her thoughts. Unfortunately, due to unfavorable financial circumstances, young Rekha was compelled to pursue work in B and C grade Telugu films.

In her early days in the film industry, Rekha faced constant judgment and ridicule due to her dark complexion, often being labeled as an unattractive outcast.

In addition to her acting career, Rekha has also lent her voice to other accomplished actresses. She provided the voice-over for Neetu Singh in the film Yaarana (1981) and for Smita Patil in the movie Waaris (1988).

Rekha, at the request of R. D. Burman, ventured into singing and performed two songs for her film Khoobsoorat (1980).

The Evergreen diva is rumored to not have a fashion stylist. Right from the beginning, she has personally chosen her own outfits and hairstyles based on her preferences.

In contrast to the majority of Bollywood stars, Rekha is renowned for her punctuality.

Rekha received the National Award for Best Actress in 1982 for her film Umrao Jaan (1982). Additionally, in 2010, the government of India honored her with the Padma Shri, which is the country’s fourth highest civilian honor, in recognition of her significant contributions to Indian cinema.

In 2012, Rekha, alongside cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, received a nomination to the upper house of parliament. Rekha was assigned to serve on the standing committee responsible for food, consumer affairs, and civil supplies.

Rekha, a strict vegetarian, has developed a fondness for solitude. During an interview, she mentioned that her days are now predominantly filled with gardening and painting.