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Rekha: The Quintessential Star Instead of wasting her time doing inconsequential stuff, Rekha should do films that present her with a challenge, writes India Today Special Correspondent Anupama Chopra There was a great Rekha moment at the recently held Screen Awards. The actress, looking gorgeous as always, was called on the stage to give away the best actress award. After the award was given and the applause died down, compere Sonali Bhendre asked Rekha not to leave the stage since she had to give the next award as well. Rekha turned, flicked her hair back and said in her best bass voice, I ain't going nowhere baby. She definitely isn't. Rekha is the quintessential movie star. She's eternally beautiful, consistently confounding and a permanent mystery. She possibly is the only star whose kept her allure intact by refusing to do television and commercials, though I imagine offers good enough to tempt the devil must have come her way. She's still the consummate actress check her out in Shyam Benegal's Zubeida. And she is always a damn good story. Every film journalist has their own Rekha story to tell. Mine is this. I was chatting with Rekha during the Kareeb premiere when she started praising my husband, Vidhu Vinod Chopra. He's so meticulous, he has such vision, he works so hard, I'd love to work with him. I nodded, thinking of course that she meant as an actress. You know, she continued, I'd love to assist him. I almost keeled over and since then, haven't been able to get the image of Rekha, regal in some outlandishly complicated, grand outfit, as first assistant director. Rekha's hard to get on the phone. First you have to go through her maids and her secretary Farzana and even her, changing her voice, pretending to be someone else. You have to chase and convince. But once she commits to a project, she's sheer magic. Five years ago, I had coordinated a photo-shoot for the New York Times. The Times Fashion segment wanted to do a special feature with Bollywood actresses wearing the latest haute couture. The pictures were done by the renowned photographer, Mary Ellen Mark. All the top actresses did the shoot Karisma, Manisha, Ashwariya, Sushmita. But only Rekha came one day before to check out the outfits. She selected a dramatic coat. And she arrived the next day for the shoot, with her beloved Pomeranian Pisti, wearing matching nail polish and jewellery. She even got a silver artifact as a present for Mark. Of course, she looked the best and was the lead photograph. I wonder what she does all day. She lives in the Mumbai equivalent of an ivory tower a sea-facing bungalow. Movie roles are now few and far between. In fact you can see Rekha more often in magazines than in movies. She talks about spending her day tending to her plants and painting. I'm sure it's fun but I think it's a waste. This is the time for Rekha to really spread her wings. She has nothing to prove and only herself to answer to. So instead of wasting her talent in inconsequential stuff like Sawan Kumar Tak's Mother 98 and Prakash Mehra's yet unreleased Mujhe Meri Biwi Se Bachao, she should do films that present her with a challenge. A few years ago, she was refusing to do roles which required her to play her age. But perhaps now she's thinking differently. Zubeida, in which she wasn't afraid to look old, is a great beginning. I hope there is much more. (Anupama Chopra is Special Correspondent, INDIA TODAY. Write to Anupama Chopra) |