When Will Rekha Fulfill Her Most Cherished And Favourite Ambition?

She was at the peak of her career those days and was also in the midst of a major controversies over her passionate affair with a tall actor who she refused to call him by his name and only called him “God” or just “Him”. It was at these very stage that I made one of the greatest mistakes of my career when I went to the sets of one of her films being shot on the sets of the Seth Studios which was the only air-conditioned studio in Bombay and whose general manager was Mr. Vishwanath who was once the general manager of Guru Dutt’s massive studios which was demolished to build the highway near Andheri.

I was in a state of inebriation when I walked in and I saw Rekha looking at me with a look that both baffled me and scared me. One of my seniors advised me to leave the set before “madam” could lose her temper or do something that I would have to replant for, but before I could reach my office, “madam” had already created the damage. She had complained to my editor about my coming drunk to the shooting of her film. Fortunately, for me, no great harm was caused to me as my editor and others knew that I was going through a bad phase in my life….

However, the worse was still to come and I didn’t know about it. Rekha had created a sensation when she broke up with her “God” and took a hasty decision to marry a young businessman from Delhi called Mukesh Agarwal who had no association with films, except for the fact that his family was known to the actress, Deepti Naval and Mukesh had committed suicide just some days after the marriage…

And even as the world gossiped and speculated about the tragic happening, the newly married bride was in Udaipur, all set to shoot for some very daring action scenes with Rajnikanth, Prem Chopra and others on the streets of Udaipur. She was playing a lady polic officer in the film produced and directed by K. C. Bhokaida and titled “Phool Bane Angaarey”.

The producer had invited a group of journalists from Bombay. One of them was the editor of my paper. She for reasons best known to her ( a strong complex about “madam” as I could guess) called me to her cabin and asked me to go to Udaipur in her place. I looked at her helplessly and even told her that she knew what had happened between “madam” and me and why he was pushing me into the then of the wounded tigress. But my editor put on a stern look and said it was her orders and I just had to go to Udaipur. I was caught in a trap, but my will power and my belief in my god tempted me and even attracted me to take on the challenge.

We reached the Laxmi Villas Palace Hotel and had a small get together in the lobby. To tell the truth, I was a little jittery. And then “madam” came down the wooden staircase with a shall draped around her and a poodle in her arms and she cast one royal look at the gathering and asked only one question, “Has Ali come?”. I made some kind of a sign to show that I was and she just said, “Ali, i want to in my suite at 6:30 am to have tea with me” and walked away. I suddenly became the centre of attraction, but little did my companions know how my heart was beating at that time.

I didn’t sleep that night and i was at the door of her suite 10 minutes before 6:30 and she welcomed me saying, “I like people who respect time” and then continued, “from now on and till you and i leave Udaipur, we will spend all our spare time talking, I will talk and you will listen and you may ask questions when you feel it is very necessary. So, lets not waste time, you have your coffee and breakfast and let start.
We really spoke for the next four days and those four days will always stay with me as four of the most memorable days in my life.

Most of the time, we talked about love and what love meant to her and how much she loved her man who she kept referring to as “Him” or “God” and I wished everyone was listening to the love goddess giving her sermon on love, I have heard many saints, prophets, sufis and godmen preach about love, but I have still not heard or read anyone talking about love like Madam Re … talked about love in Udaipur during those four days.
Next to love, she talked about her career and how she had done more than 400 films as a leading lady and how most of them done during the first seven or eight years of her career were a waste of time. She confessed that it was her role as a rape victim in a film called “Ghar” in which she played the wife of Vinod Mehra (there was a rumour which she never denied that they had also got married in real life) which gave her a feeling of what being a good actress was all about and ever since “Ghar” she only did films in which could show off her talent as an actress and the result was the rise and rise and the metamorphosis of Rekha, the actress.

Rekha also talked about how being in the special state she was in (love ) helped her to be a beautiful woman and a beautiful actress, whatever the circumstances and the challenges that came her way and that can be seen in what Rekha is today at 64.
It has been one long quest for Rekha to find directors who can get the best out of her and she has been grateful to directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Gautam Ghosh and others who saw the potential in her to act. Her only regret has been her not being able to work with Raj Kapoor who she called the best director of India, especially when it came to treating female characters.

She talked about Yoga and how it has helped her to keep her fit at her age when other women fade out and fade away.She said she had many other things learn, but had already mastered the art of gardening (she has her own garden where she even grows products from which she creates material which forms her make-up), flower arrangements, painting and anything that it beautiful “because I am basically a beautiful soul created by god as his chosen one”.

Of one thing, Rekha was very sure and that was that she would never write an autobiography of her own And the other thing she was very sure about was that she would like to make her own film one day soon.

Not only me, but many others who have had the courage to ask her personal questions have asked her about her getting married and she has smiled that beautiful but mysterious smile which can be described only in a book or a painting and has said in Urdu, a language which she had determined to learn and had finally learned like everything she has learned in life and said, “Hum woh karte hai jo humaara dil chaahta hai, hum shaadi bhi tab karenge jab humaara dil chaahega, abhi humaare dil mein aisi baat sochi bhi nahi, toh hum shaadi ki baat hi kaise soch sakte hai?”

Will the woman who has had the courage to build her own world in her bungalow at Band Stand facing the sea create a world which will be a world the world outside will wonder and keep wondering about?

By Ali Peter John (17th April- 2021)