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Rekha - The Icon, An Enigma Wondering who Rekha is, has long been a national past time. For embedded under layers and layers of makeup and make belief, Rekha seems to live a mysterious and fascinating life, a life far removed from reality. She strides like a Colossus over the Hindi film firmament. Admired and wanted by many, Rekha has won the heart of millions. And it's not only her looks that are admired. Her story of turning life around, under the most incapacitating circumstances, reads like a fairytale. So what is so special about Rekha? And that too when she's nearing 50, an age when a woman is written off as a star in Hindi filmdom, much less treated as a sex symbol! When Rekha started her film career, she was overweight, had no sense of style and only exuded crass sex appeal. Yet today, she is considered one of the most glamorous actresses, one whom fledgling starlets as well as the more established actresses look up to for advice on matters of beauty and style. Regarded as the 'Queen of Perfect Makeup', she has cut a path of her own, rewriting the rules of showbiz-land, at times breaking those that didn't agree with her. With scant regard for moralists or societal do's and don'ts. Rekha, in fact, lives life king-size. While most men seem to fall under her spell sooner or later, women admire her for her sheer sensuality, her ability to attract men like moths to a flame. She symbolises an unhindered sexuality, an eroticism that is seldom found in the Hindi film industry - an industry that usually demands innocence, a negation of any overt sexuality from its heroines. And unlike most other actresses, Rekha doesn't wear her sexuality like a cloak to be taken off after a shoot. That aura of sensuality breathes on in her actual life too. Incidents involving other women's insecurity about Rekha abound. Like when Shekhar Suman narrated to me, "My first film Utsav was opposite Rekha, remember? And look at the effect Rekha has, even when it's only acting. There was this bathing scene between Rekha and me where I am taking off her jewels one by one. Alka (my wife) stomped off and out of the auditorium on the night of the premiere, as soon as this scene came on. And later at home, she even physically attacked me in anger! The scars took a long time to heal - hers emotional, mine physical." He went on to add, "I have done love scenes so many times in films but Alka's never reacted like this to any other actress." An excellent performer, Rekha is, nevertheless, more famous for her off-screen liaisons than for her acting prowess. Having elevated the 'other woman' phenomena to almost an art form, Rekha purportedly lived a life that followed the same lines as her movies Umrao Jaan, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Silsila and a host of others. Linked with a diverse number of men, from little known actors to stars Rekha's biggest moment was her relationship with the Superstar of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan. Yet there is more to Rekha than just her liaison with the Badshah of Bollywood. Admittedly he was Professor Higgins to her Eliza Doolittle - but the fire to transform herself, from a nonentity to a force to be reckoned with, came from within her. This 'Scarlet Woman' intrigues me. In a film world inhabited by any number of beautiful women, she stands out not just for her glamour and luminescence, but also for the guts to live life, as she wants. When she speaks, the low octave tones ooze sensuality and class, a rare yet potent combination. The fascinating part is that it's not a natural endowment but a cultivated grace, and speaks volumes about her determination to overcome her disadvantaged beginnings. Lack of support from society or a decent education (she's a middle school dropout) or respectability (she was scorned and mocked at, from the moment she stepped into films) mark Rekha's history. Yet she remained unscathed and went on to become a legend and a role model as an actress. Perhaps the difference never comes out as clearly as when you see her in her first movie, Saawan Bhadon and her later movies like Umrao Jaan or Silsila. Under the garb of respectability and the 'decent woman' tag, any number of women have pulled the wool over society or their men's eyes. Rekha, however, refuses to hide behind tags. She has taken on society and its perceptions head-on, the same way she has tackled life. With total confidence, and an in-your-face attitude. Many years ago she walked into the Rishi-Neetu wedding, flaunting red sindoor in her hair, a huge red tikka on her forehead and plonked herself next to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan's mother, Teji, creating a massive furore in the process! This happened, of course, when the so-called Amitabh-Rekha romance was at its peak. Today, two and half decades later, Rekha continues with her total bindaas attitude. Recently she created another headline and a furore. A photograph was splashed on the front page of several Mumbai papers some month's ago. It had Jaya Bachchan and Rekha in one frame. The last they were seen together was in Silsila. As for being caught together off screen, it's rarely been witnessed. Greeting Jaya with an obsequious Namaste, Rekha had a smile on her face while Jaya projected indifference. Another such incident took place a couple of years ago. While dancing on stage at some awards function to the song 'Salame ishq meri jaan zaro kabool karlo', she pointedly looked towards Amitabh and Jaya seated in the front row! The two hapless victims - Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya - had no other choice but to look away, pretending not to notice. What has she got out of this relationship? Hema, Dimple, Shabana -were all in similar relationships at some point in their lives, and got some form of acknowledgement from their men. But not Rekha. Rekha, however, has always stood up to her convictions, acknowledging the unspoken, boldly accepting the existence of her relationship - referring to her partner with great pride at every stage of her life and giving him credit for much of what she is today. He, on the other hand, despite a long and intense relationship with her, has never acknowledged her presence in his life. No wonder, then, that the woman outshines the actress! Despite outstanding performances to her credit in a string of movies, it is the woman in Rekha who captivates as she tantalizes. A darling of the press, Rekha can get away with murder, with the public as well as the media. And it's no mystery why! For no one gives copy to the press the way Rekha does. Her entire flamboyant personality seems geared to feature in magazines and the media. As veteran journalists vouch, in the entire film industry there are very few people who provide such good material for print, with a larger than life persona and the sheer joy of living that Rekha projects. The road that Rekha has travelled has been a long and arduous one. Yet she has managed to make a name for herself in the fickle film industry - which is no mean feat. In an industry that worships only beauty and youth, Rekha portrays the triumph of mind over circumstances. And the fact that she has retained a measure of dignity and peace in the process speaks for her grit and resilience. Recently, when asked to comment on the absence of a man in her life today, she said, "I think I have yet to meet a man who I feel completely one with, someone with whom I'd want to have a relationship with. I won't say a lover or a husband, but the ideal soul mate or a spiritual partner, a humsafar so to speak... someone you want to share every moment with, someone you admire and can learn from. Someone you can have a trusting and sharing relationship with." For a woman who has given so much to all her relationships, it's not too much to ask for. But is there such a man for Rekha out there, I wonder. And even if there were, would he have the courage and strength to envisage a lifetime with Rekha? A woman who is a self created masterpiece, one who has never lived life on anyone else's terms except her own. Only time can tell. For now, Rekha remains the mystery, the enigma that attracts thousands to its riddle. |