Rekha: Actress

“My teaming up with Amitabh Bachchan in Do Anjan earned me fame as an intense actress. Then it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Khubsoorat in 1978 that established me as an actress of repute.”

Rekha

The diva rules

“The real turning point in my life came when I performed my best in Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan. After reading the script, I felt I had Umrao in me — the character influenced me so much. I put my soul into each minute aspect of my performance. I was thrilled when I won the National Award for Best Actress for Umrao Jaan.”

Rekha

The diva rules

Life , Soul , Reading

“She is a dreamer… she lives in her own world. She imagines a lot of things that suit her psyche as an actor. She is a very genuine, warm and a very sensitive person… And no denying the fact a very good learner. It has been an amazing experience to work with her; she is a perfect actress.”

Rekha

Comment by Muzaffar Ali said.
At 55, Rekha still an engima, an icon

World , Personality , Imagination , Perfection

“The celebrated Hindi film actress has a cult of personality surrounding her that is unparalleled among other actresses and is often the subject of particularly fascinating urban legend.”

Rekha

Susan Dewey in [Dewey, Susan, Making Miss India Miss World: Constructing Gender, Power, and the Nation in Postliberalization India, http://books.google.com/books?id=-WamxY5bQtIC&pg=PA111, 2008, Syracuse University Press, 978-0-8156-3176-7, 111–]

Personality

“Rekha fashioned herself as an actress with a signature look very different from her early years as a struggling actress. This transformation was often referred to as as that of an ugly duckling. In interviews and film magazines Rekha claimed that she had achieved this by changing her lifestyle, healthy eating practices, and doing yoga. Soon she had inspired a whole fashion trend and had film magazines raving about her affair with Amitab Bachhan. Such publicity added to her image as a symbol of seduction and glamour. She was seen as a woman who could challenge patriarchal norms by remaining single and being famous.”

Rekha

Editor Manju Jain in [Jain, Manju, Narratives of Indian Cinema, http://books.google.com/books?id=ORE9TDOoU1IC&pg=PA187, 2009, Primus Books, 978-81-908918-4-4, 187–]

Fashion , Change

“How is this dark, plump and gauche actress ever going to make it?”

Rekha

Shashi Kapoor when she appeared first for shooting of film Sawan Bhadon, quoted in "Rekha: The divine diva" in Rediff.com

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