​Happy Birthday, Rekha: FIVE lesser known facts about the diva​

An acting legend, a style icon, an inspiration for generations and a diva envied by many... Rekha personifies the essence of a superstar with her very existence. This timeless beauty owned the silver screen for over decades with her captivating onscreen presence and left an indelible mark with her charming offscreen appearances. On her birthday today, here's recounting some lesser known trivia about Rekha.

The actress was born as Bhanurekha Gemini Ganesan on October 10, 1954. Her father, Gemini aka Ramasamy Ganesan was a well-known actor in the Tamil film industry while her mother, Pushpavalli, was a Telugu film actress. When she debuted in movies, the actress took on the stage name of Rekha. She has one sister, five half-sisters, and one half-brother.

Rekha never wanted to face the camera or follow the footsteps of her mother. She was fond of travelling and aspired to be an air hostess. However, little did she know that her charming personality would take over the silver screen and crown her as one of the best actresses for years to come.

Rekha faced the camera for the first time as a child actor in the Telugu movie ‘Rangula Ratnam’. This 1966 release also starred her mother, Pushpavalli. He multi-talented actress was an expert at mimicry and has dubbed for Neetu Singh in Yaarana and Smita Patil in Waaris.

Nearly a decade ago, Rekha turned down an offer to share the frame with Amitabh Bachchan. Buzz was that the actress was offered a lead role alongside Big B in Anees Bazmee helmed Welcome Back. While Amitabh Bachchan was rumoured to have signed on the dotted line, Rekha declined the opportunity due to date issues with her comeback movie Super Nani. The film eventually went on to feature Naseeruddin Shah and Dimple Kapadia.