Rekha: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox person

| name = Rekha

| alt = Rekha is looking at the camera.

| birth_name = Bhanurekha Ganesan

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1954|10|10}}

| birth_place = [[Madras]], [[Madras State]], India

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1958–present

| works = [[Rekha filmography|Full list]]

| father = [[Gemini Ganesan]]

| mother = [[Pushpavalli]]

[[File:Rekha as an infant.png|thumb|upright|left|Rekha as a child, 1950s. She was born to [[Gemini Ganesan]] and [[Pushpavalli]], both were South Indian actors|alt=A picture featuring Rekha as an infant in the 1950s.]]

Rekha was born Bhanurekha Ganesan in [[Chennai|Madras]] (present-day Chennai) on 10 October 1954 to South Indian actors [[Gemini Ganesan]] and [[Pushpavalli]], when the couple were unmarried.<ref name="Who is Rekha">{{cite web |last=Roy |first=Gitanjali |url=http://www.ndtv.com/people/who-is-rekha-478965 |publisher=[[NDTV]] |title=Who is Rekha? |date=10 October 2012 |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-date=12 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212233621/https://www.ndtv.com/people/who-is-rekha-478965 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/every-day-is-a-celebration-not-specifically-b-day-rekha/story-KCaf5U0AeRyvN0MOqGMYPJ.html |title=Every day is a celebration, not specifically b'day: Rekha |date=10 October 2014 |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |agency=[[Press Trust of India]] |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423085206/https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/every-day-is-a-celebration-not-specifically-b-day-rekha/story-KCaf5U0AeRyvN0MOqGMYPJ.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Ganesan was previously married to T. R. "Bobjima" Alamelu and had four children: the [[Illinois]]-based radiation oncologist Revathi Swaminathan, the gynecologist [[Kamala Selvaraj]], ''[[The Times of India]]''{{'s}} journalist Narayani Ganesan, and the medical doctor Jaya Shreedhar.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20101219/spectrum/book6.htm |title=Revisiting a romantic |last=Quraishi |first=Humra |date=19 December 2010 |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |access-date=14 April 2021 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002229/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20101219/spectrum/book6.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sisters">{{cite web |url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/mar/10look.htm |title=Rare sight: Rekha and her five sisters! |last=Warrier |first=Shobha |author-link=Shobha Warrier |date=10 March 2005 |work=[[Rediff.com]] |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-date=8 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908083143/https://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/mar/10look.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> He had two more children with actress [[Savitri (actress)|Savitri]]—Vijaya Chamundeswari, a fitness expert, and Sathish Kumaar.<ref name="sisters" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.news18.com/photogallery/movies/in-pics-the-gemini-ganesan-rekha-family-tree-823544.html |title=In pics: The Gemini Ganesan-Rekha family tree |date=27 February 2015 |website=[[News18]] |access-date=14 April 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415011141/https://www.news18.com/photogallery/movies/in-pics-the-gemini-ganesan-rekha-family-tree-823544.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Usman|2016|pp=31–34}} Meanwhile, Pushpavalli had two children (Babuji and Rama) from her earlier marriage to the lawyer I. V. Rangachari.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=புஷ்பவல்லி |trans-title=Pushpavalli |language=ta |date=4 December 1948 |page=4 |magazine=Pesum Padam}}</ref> Ganesan and Pushpavalli had another daughter, Radha (born 1955).<ref name="Drama in real life">{{cite news |url=https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Cinema/2013-12-22/Drama-in-real-life/80115 |title=Drama in real life |last=Kalyanam |first=Rajeswari |date=22 December 2013 |work=[[The Hans India]] |access-date=15 April 2021 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415044800/https://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/Cinema/2013-12-22/Drama-in-real-life/80115 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Usman|2016|p=32}} Nagaprasad and the actress [[Shubha (actress)|Shubha]] are her cousins, while [[Vedantam Raghavayya]] and his wife Suryaprabha are her uncle and aunt, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/memories-of-the-southern-devadas/article28387949.ece |title=Memories of the Southern Devadas |last=Lata |first=S. Suchitra |date=5 December 2002 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413111330/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/memories-of-the-southern-devadas/article28387949.ece |url-status=live}}</ref> Rekha's mother tongue is [[Telugu language|Telugu]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://i.imgur.com/FXHfWqo.png |work=[[The Times of India]] |title=I'm Old-Fashioned About Love |date=8 March 1987 |access-date=3 April 2013 |archive-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515231534/https://i.imgur.com/FXHfWqo.png | format=PNG |url-status=live}}</ref> but she has mentioned that "at home we used to talk in English, barely spoke in Telugu",<ref>{{cite video |people=Rekha |time=09:19 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=301bnXZqGWY&t=559s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/301bnXZqGWY |archive-date=9 March 2024 |url-status=live |title=Bollywood Actress Rekha Beautiful Telugu Speech {{pipe}} ANR National Awards |location=India |publisher=News Buzz}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and that she thinks in English.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141109/entertainment-bollywood/article/%E2%80%98i-hold-no-grudges-against-anyone%E2%80%99 |work=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |title=I hold no grudges against anyone |last=Jha |first=Subhash K. |author-link=Subhash K. Jha |date=9 November 2014 |access-date=30 December 2017 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828022754/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141109/entertainment-bollywood/article/%E2%80%98i-hold-no-grudges-against-anyone%E2%80%99 |url-status=live}}</ref> She is also fluent in Tamil and Hindi.

 

Rekha did not reveal her family background until mid-1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/jul/31sli9.htm |title=When Rekha was called Bhanu |date=31 July 2008 |website=Rediff.com |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=10 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910193618/http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/jul/31sli9.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZFTAAAAYAAJ |title=Mutual Need |last=Ramachandran |first=T. M. |date=January 1983 |magazine=Film World |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=11 |access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022011224/https://www.google.co.id/books/edition/Film_World/EZFTAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> During her unstable childhood, her relationship with her father Ganesan was poor. Ganesan did not want to recognize her as his daughter and give her a living.{{sfn|Usman|2016|p=37}}<ref name="childhood">{{cite web |author=Chopra, Sonia |url=http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id=14539551&page=2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012015851/http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/fullstory.php?id=14539551&page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2007 |website=[[Sify]] |title=Rekha's journey: The 'ageless' diva over the years |date=8 October 2007 |access-date=19 April 2008}}</ref> He rarely met both of his children with Pushpavalli, who subsequently married K. Prakash, a cinematographer from Madras, and she legally changed her name to K. Pushpavalli. She gave birth to two more children, Dhanalakshmi (who later married to the actor [[Tej Sapru]]) and the dancer Seshu (died 21 May 1991).{{sfn|Usman|2016|pp=33, 180}}<ref name="Seshu">{{cite news |url=http://www.filmfare.com/site/december97/cover1a.htm |title=Family Men |date=December 1997 |last=Mohamed |first=Khalid |author-link=Khalid Mohamed |work=[[Filmfare]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980705063355/http://www.filmfare.com/site/december97/cover1a.htm |archive-date=5 July 1998 |access-date=23 April 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Due to her mother's hectic acting schedule at the time, Rekha would often stay with her grandmother. Asked in an interview by [[Simi Garewal]] about her father, Rekha believed he was never even aware of her existence.<ref name="Rendezvous" /> She recalled that her mother often spoke about him and added that despite never having lived with him, she felt his presence all through.<ref name="Rendezvous">{{cite episode |last=Garewal |first=Simi |author-link=Simi Garewal |date=3 June 2004 |title=Rendezvous with Simi Garewal and Rekha |series=Rendezvous with Simi Garewal |medium=television production |publisher=[[STAR World]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Usman|2016|p=34}} Even so, the relationship started to improve five years after Pushpavalli died in 1991.<ref name="Seshu" /> He told a ''[[Cine Blitz]]'' interviewer of his happiness about this and stated, "Rekha and I have such a good rapport. We are really close."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Hot from Madras: Gemini's exclusive |date=December 1992 |volume=18 |issue=12 |magazine=[[Cine Blitz]] |location=Madras, India}}</ref> He died in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/gemini-ganesh-king-of-romance-passes-away/article27335936.ece |title=Gemini Ganesh, 'King of Romance', passes away |date=23 March 2005 |work=The Hindu |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423092025/https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/gemini-ganesh-king-of-romance-passes-away/article27335936.ece |url-status=live}}</ref>