Rekha, the diva we know, is glamourous and lives life on her terms. She is a woman of grace and charm. The kind of persona she has is unmatchable, but nothing was easy for her. The journey of the actress was a rocky path full of struggles which she fought and kept moving forward in her life.
In her biography, Rekha: The Untold Story written by Yasser Usman, published by Juggernaut, reveals shocking things about the actress.
According to the excerpts from the book published by Times of India Rekha was kissed forcibly in the name of shooting the film and she was unaware of all this. The shooting of Anjana Safar, Rekha’s first film, was underway in Bombay’s Mahboob Studio. Raja Nawathe was the director and cinematographer of the film. In the very first schedule of the film, Kuljeet Pal (the director), Raja and Biswajeet (the lead actor) had hatched a plan, with Rekha as the unsuspecting victim. That day a romantic scene was to be filmed between Rekha and Biswajeet. Every last detail of the strategy had been decided before the shoot. As soon as the director Raj Nawathe said ‘action’, Biswajeet took Rekha in his arms and pressed his lips on hers.
Rekha was stunned. This kiss had never been mentioned to her. The camera kept rolling; neither was the director ordering ‘cut’ nor was Biswajeet letting go of her. For all of five minutes, Biswajeet kept kissing Rekha. Unit members were whistling and cheering. Her eyes were tightly shut but they were full of tears.
According to Biswajeet, he was on his director’s command and it was all Raja Nawathe’s idea. “It was not for my enjoyment, but important for the film. Rekha felt betrayed and was furious,” admitted Biswajeet.
Who could have thought the evergreen Rekha had to go through all this in her very first film.