Rekha-Amitabh pair was a superhit in films
Famous poet Josh Malihabadi says- The injuries of my heart never allowed me to live in peace…when the cold wind blew, I remembered you… Some dates seem to become the text of history. Whenever I remember them, the pain in my heart does not let me live in peace. In the world of cinema, the month of October brings the feeling of these cold winds, when the fans remember Rekha and Amitabh together. This is what is called a coincidence. The birthday of the couple whose spiritual story the world hums and narrates on this occasion is also stuck on the skull of time at an interval of just one day. Rekha on 10th October and Amitabh Bachchan on 11th October. When Rekha turned 71, Amitabh turned 83. True, What a date this is, friends, what a question this is, where there is only regret till the very end of the eyes!
Surely Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan Malaal also has a presence of her own in the story. There are many stories of love stories being made or spoiled in the Hindi film industry. None of these stories are interesting anymore. Dilip Kumar-Madhubala’s story, Dev Anand-Suraiya’s story, Raj Kapoor-Nargis’ story, Guru Dutt-Waheeda Rehman’s story…etc. Every story is now an open book. But the pages of Rekha and Amitabh’s story are still a secret. This story is also the biggest mystery of Bollywood. Were both in love? yes or no?
Came into the film industry almost simultaneously
If we turn the pages of the history of Hindi films, Rekha and Amitabh enter Bollywood almost at an interval of some time. Amitabh Bachchan’s first film was Saat Hindustani in 1969, while Rekha’s first Hindi film was Sawan Bhado a year later in 1970. Naveen Nischal was the actor of Sawan Bhado. The unique thing is that Amitabh Bachchan had no legacy of films whereas Rekha’s father Gemini Ganesan was a famous actor of Tamil cinema. Rekha had also worked as a child artiste. Before coming to Hindi films, she had gained coverage by acting in Kannada and Telugu films.
The most glamorous actress of the eighties
After coming to Mumbai, Rekha was also struggling like other actresses of her time like Jaya Bachchan (Bhaduri), Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi etc. Among these actresses from South, Rekha got the notice a little late compared to Hema Malini. Everyone liked Rekha’s performance, but her dark complexion often came in the way, which she completely covered with her acting and dancing skills in a few years and soon she became known as the most glamorous actress of Bollywood in the eighties. Among all the artists of that era, Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Rakesh Roshan, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, Vinod Mehra, Shatrughan Sinha, Raj Babbar, Shekhar Suman etc. were admirers of Rekha’s glamorous look and feel.
Rekha and Amitabh came together for the first time in 1976
Despite making pairings with all these artists, the pairing of Rekha and Amitabh became the most popular. After all, what was the reason for this? The first film in which Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha worked was the film Do Anjaane, which was released in the year 1976. The director was- Dulal Guha. This film was very ordinary. Couldn’t do any wonders at the box office. By this time Amitabh Bachchan’s image as an angry young man had been established, he had no influence on it. But the chemistry of both the actors on screen caught the attention of many directors. The reason for this was their height and personality.
How did the evergreen pair of Rekha-Amitabh Bachchan become?
Amitabh Bachchan was married to Jaya in 1973 itself. Despite appearing together on screen many times, their height was always a subject of gossip. Amitabh was very tall whereas Jaya was short for his height. In such a situation, people felt newness in the pairing of Amitabh-Rekha. Amitabh is also slim and tall and Rekha is also slim and tall. By this time, Jaya had also started moving away from films. Taking care of children was his priority. On the other hand, this proved to be the peak period for Amitabh Bachchan. There was a list of superhit films. Soon many more films of Amitabh-Rekha started coming. And new gossips started being created about their chemistry.
Most popular film pair from 1976 to 81
After the two Anjaane of 1976, many films of Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan came together. Some of these may not be very successful at the box office but are definitely memorable. In 1977, his two films came out – Aalaap and Khoon Pasina. Vinod Khanna was also in Khoon Pasina. This film was called a superhit at the box office. But the next year i.e. in 1978, Ganga Ki Saugandh and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar brought the duo into limelight.
In the destiny of Alexander Hello love, please accept my love… The chemistry between Rekha and Amitabh on the song is palpable. Similarly, in 1979’s Mr. Natwarlal and Suhaag, in 1980’s Ram Balram, Rekha and Amitabh were successful in garnering the love of their fans. Some of her other films are- Namak Haraam, Imaan Dharam and Kasme Vaade.
Rekha-Amitabh’s last film Silsila
It is noteworthy that the pairing of Rekha and Amitabh in films is made in the absence of Jaya and as soon as Jaya becomes active in films again, Rekha and Amitabh once again get separated in films. The last film of their pairing was – Silsila, which came in 1981. The star chemistry of this film was the gift of Yash Chopra. It was due to the efforts of Yash Chopra that Rekha and Jaya agreed to work together for the first time and Amitabh Bachchan was also in a lead role.
Although Rekha and Amitabh never worked together after this, Rekha lent her voice in two of Amitabh Bachchan’s films – Yaarana and Aakhri Raasta. He dubbed for Neetu Singh in Yaarana and Sridevi in Aakhri Raasta. In this way, she considers herself lucky that they worked together even after Silsila.
Was there love between Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan?
Now the question is whether Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan really loved each other? Amitabh Bachchan never said this. Amitabh has always believed in keeping the family organized. When Rekha and Amitabh were acting together, their chemistry was the spice of gossips for newspapers and magazines. People used to speculate that both of them looked very attractive as well as comfortable in romantic scenes.
As far as Rekha is concerned, she has expressed her love openly. She has openly said in many interviews that yes, I loved him. Rekha considers herself the biggest fan of Amitabh Bachchan. Many people will remember when Amitabh Bachchan got injured during the shooting of the film Coolie, was admitted to the hospital, while Jaya was in the hospital, Rekha was performing havan in the temple.
