I am, therefore I'm sensual: Rekha

From Amitabh Bachchan to love, sex and sensuality, Rekha tells it like only she can. Jitesh Pillai attempts to ruffle the queen bee with a series of posers, while she adroitly deflects all the bouncers with elan.

Q.1 Make-up ke peeche kya hai ?
Sirf ek chehra hi nahin... Ek dil bhi hai, jo dimaag ke saath connected hai.

Q.2 Didn't you say you were in love with Amitabh Bachchan on the Simi Garewal show?
Ha, so what else is new? The whole universe is in love with him, you included... cliche, cliche.

Q.3 Wasn't Simi Garewal trying to put you on the mat on her show?
Was she? I think Simi was just being Simi. She was the privileged one to ask me any question she pleased, but ultimately I believe it was my prerogative to answer to the best of my abilities, using my discretion (laughs). Anway, my fans were busier reacting to my Kanjeevaram saree, lipstick shades, bangles, hair and mostly the twinkle in my eyes. God help me the day I need an interview to make myself heard. And in any case, every opinion about me is a product of someone else's perceptions. It's that what people don't read between the lines, which is the real truth. The irony is that I've spent the last 20 years explaining why I didn't do TV. Now, I'm not about to spend the next 20 years, justifying why I actually did it.

Q.4 How come you never talk about your performances?
Because I believe real ladies are meant to be seen, not heard. I can't go on talking about my love for my craft or the technique of acting (smiles). Leave that to my viewers. Having said that, acting is my first love.
Unfortunately, just when I'm discovering myself as an actor, the "real actor" boom has deteriorated. In any case, I don't think acting is something words can express. It's just a feeling...

Q.5 Would you have liked to be a man? What attracts you about men?
No, I love being a woman. In fact, I've always believed that I'm every woman. I think what attracts a woman to a man are his imperfections. He would be soooooo-not-perfect if he were perfect.
If only we could accept that there is no need to understand the opposite sex in order to love and adore them. Men never grow up. They will always remain boys.
The sooner women realise that, the easier it will be for them to love and celebrate men. And to answer your question what attracts me to a man is his... GENUINENESS... which is a rare quality.

Q.6 You don't want to ever get married?
Depends... on what you call true marriage. Woh baat jo lafzon mein ada ho jaaye, woh baat hi kya. Marriage, like history, cannot be expressed in words. You have to savour it, taste it, live it and the true fun is to relive it.

Q.7 You are only identified as the 'other woman' or the 'courtesan' on screen?
I think that again is a perception. In fact, I've played more roles as a wife, a daughter and a bahu. Strangely, people identify me with my roles in Silsila, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar or Umrao Jaan .
But I've played the wife in Sadaa Suhaagan, Ijaazat, Maang Bharo Sajna and Judaai . Perhaps, people like to mix up the reel image with the so-called off-screen image in their minds. Well, mind you, Rekha's not complaining.

Q.8 Hello, why do you refer to yourself in the third person?
Duh... helloooo, don't you know royalty always refers to itself in the third person? Ya right. Ha Ha. I'm just kidding. Well, I guess it's one of the reasons which makes Rekha, 'The Rekha'.

Q.9 Is it true that you are attracted to women?
For sure, I'm mostly attracted to women. I have always loved and admired women. Look at Rajmata Gayatri Devi, my mother, Sophia Loren, Ingrid Bergman, Katherine Hepburn and Indira Gandhi all such beautiful, spiritual and evolved women. Show me any man who matches up to them in terms of beauty, emotional strength and resilience.

Q.10 It's said that you are the No 1 gay icon among actors?
Is that right? I take that as a compliment. I think gay men have a heightened sense of beauty and aesthetics. Perhaps that's why they like women like Madonna, Cher and now you say me.
Perhaps they want to make themselves more appealing. They enhance their features with make-up, costumes and use endearing gestures from Umrao Jaan to entice men, perhaps.

Q.11 What does it feel to be sexy at 50?

Sexy? Whatever that means. I think it's trite, over-used and perhaps an over-rated word. Sensuality is more like it. I am, therefore I'm sensual. True sensuality is something that is inherent or innate.
It cannot be acquired. It oozes out constantly without one's realising it. A fan once said to me, "Sensuality, thy name is Rekha". I thought that was sweet.

Q.12 Is love over-rated too?
Yes, the word love is commonplace. The word 'ishq' which poets have penned is 'the' word. Ishq implies giving yourself away in love, never expecting anything ever. Rekha is always in ishq.

Q.13 Who are you in love with now?
(Dramatic pause) I, me, myself. I'm constantly having a romantic liaison with myself. Loving, to me, comes as inexorably as breathing. This is what defines me.
I'm brimming with love. If I don't bestow the overflow, I believe the excess of love stored inside me will become toxic and almost choke me.

Q.14 What's the most romantic line of dialogue ever?
'I hate you...' the line from Silsila. You have to read between the lines. Life, like that dialogue, is lived somewhere between the lines. In this case, actions do speak louder than words.

Q.15 So what's your most over-rated virtue?
Aaaaaaaaaah... Him!

Q.16 And your most-under-rated virtue?
Him... I mean God. Ha, ha, gotcha there.

Q.17 Whats the best compliment Mr Bachchan has ever paid you?
Distance... that I'm eternally grateful for. Because then one would never have had the chance to explore heroine-oriented films. Living under the shadow of the supreme one would have been relegated to doing insignificant roles.
And you know what? Ironically, distance is what kids today are constantly fighting for, demanding their 'space'. Well, I was the chosen one. It was given to me on a platter... and loads of it.

Q.18 Hey, you're doing a film with Mallika Sherawat. Are you feeling okay?
Behave yourself. Woh bhi khuda ki bandi hai ... and a very successful one at that. I'm looking forward to working with her.

Q.19 What else do you know for sure?
What I've always known for a very, very long time now is that God has given me the strength to always be there for anyone who depends on me and needs me... unconditionally. I do also know, however, never to delude myself expecting anybody to be there for me, ever.

Q.20 Your state of mind now? Please don't say Yeh kahaan aa gaye hum ...
Hmmm. Here goes I looked my love in the eyes and allowed HIM to lead the dance. We danced... and danced... and danced. I was entranced, LOST or completely found?
I had never felt such a sense of belonging as I did when I danced with... the LORD. My maker, my creator, my beginning, my middle and my end. What a lover he is...

By Jitesh Pillai,TNN, Aug 29, 2004,