Rekha

Biography:  Bhanurekha Ganesan , popularly known Rekha, is an Indian actress who is predominantly works in Bollywood and South Indian films. She made her debut as a child artist in 1966 in Telugu film industry with ' Rangul Ratnam' directed by B.N.Reddy. Rekha has acted in over 180 films in a career that has spanned 40 years. She has reinvented herself numerous times in her career and is known for her ability to sustain her status. Taking part in both Indian mainstream and art cinema, known in India as parallel cinema, she has achieved commercial success, as well as critical praise for her performances throughout the years. Personal life Rekha was born on 10 October 1954 in Tamil Nadu, India, is an Indian actress who has appeared in Bollywood films.she is the daughter of renowned Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and the Telugu actress Pushpavalli. Rekha's parents were not married, and her father did not acknowledge his paternity during her childhood. It was during the early 1970s, when she was looking for a footing in the Bollywood film industry, that she revealed her origins. Rekha has had various unsuccessful relationships with fellow Bollywood stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Mehra and in 1990 she married Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Aggarwal, who committed suicide in 1991. She was rumored to have been married to actor Vinod Mehra in 1973, but in a 2004 television interview with Simi Garewal she denied being married to him referring to him as a "well-wisher". Rekha currently lives along with her secretary Farzana in her Bandra home in Mumbai. Career Life Rekha appeared as a child actor in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966). Rekha made her debut as heroine in the successful Kannada film Goadalli CID 999 with Dr. Rajkumar in 1969. In that same year, she starred in her first Hindi film, Anjana Safar (later retitled Do Shikari).  She had two films released in 1970: the Telugu film Amma Kosam and the Hindi film Sawan Bhadon, which was considered her acting debut in Bollywood. She had to learn Hindi language, as her naturally spoken language was Tamil. Sawan Bhadon became a hit and her roles were mostly used to be just of a glamour girl. She appeared in several commercially successful films at the time, including Kahani Kismat Ki, Raampur Ka Lakshman and Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye, yet she was not as regarded for her acting abilities. Her first performance-oriented role came in 1976 when she played an ambitious woman in Do Anjaane, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan. The film became a hit as well as a critical success, and she was widely noticed for her performance. Her most significant turning point, however, came in 1978, when she portrayed the role of a rape victim in the movie Ghar, alongside Vinod Mehra. The film was considered her first notable milestone, as she got critical acclaim for her performance, and received her first nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards. In that same year, she first attained fame with Muqaddar Ka Sikander, in which she co-starred once again with Amitabh Bachchan. The movie was the biggest hit of that year, as well as one of the biggest hits of the decade, and Rekha was set as one of the most successful actresses of these times. The film opened to positive critical reception, and Rekha's performance as a courtesan earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Filmfare. Following her success with Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Rekha went on to star opposite Bachchan in a number of films, most of which were hits. She had not only a successful on-screen pair with him, but a real-life relationship, which was widely reported in the media, as well as sharply criticised, as he was a married man. This relationship was ended and concluded in 1981, when they starred in Yash Chopra's drama Silsila. In 1981, she starred in the Urdu film Umrao Jaan. Her portrayal of a sensitive courtesan has been considered one of her career best performances, and she received the National Film Award for Best Actress for it. Overall, she played a courtesan with a heart of gold in several of her films; Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Umrao Jaan were followed by a number of films which had her playing similar roles. Apart from parallel cinema, Rekha took on other increasingly serious, even adventurous roles; she was among the early actresses to play lead roles in heroine-oriented films, delivering films such as Khubsoorat, Khoon Bhari Maang and Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye. She won Filmfare trophies for her roles in Khubsoorat (1980) and Khoon Bhari Maang (1988). The foreign film, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and the commercially successful Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) were some of her most notable films during the decade. The former, which was directed by Mira Nair was known for its controversial topic (many felt that staring would damage her career), as Rekha played a Kama Sutra teacher in the film. On the other hand, the latter was a major grosser and earned her several awards, including the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and the Star Screen Award for Best Villain for her first villain role of a gangster woman. In recent years, she has appeared in relatively few movies, usually as a mother or a widow rather than a glamour queen. In 2001, she starred as Ramdulari in Rajkumar Santoshi's Lajja, along with an ensemble cast that included Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor. In 2003, she played Hrithik Roshan's mother in Rakesh Roshan's Koi... Mil Gaya, a performance which won her the Bollywood Movie Award - Best Supporting Actress. The film was the biggest hit of that year. In 2006, she was seen in the sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya, Krrish, one of the most successful films of the year.