Rekha has acted in over 180 films in a career spanning over 40 years.

Throughout her career, she has often played strong female characters and, apart from mains tream cinema, appeared in arthouse films, known in India as parallel cinema. She has won tree Filmfare Awards, two for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress, for her roles in Khubsoorat (1980), Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) and Khilad iyon Ka Khiladi (1996), respectively. Her portrayal of a classical courtesan in Umrao Jaan (1981) won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. Though her c areer has gone through certain periods of decline, she has reinvented herself nu merous times and has been credited for her ability to sustain her status.[3] In 2010, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Rekha was born in Chennai (then Madras) to Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli. Her father enjoyed considerable success as an actor and Re kha was to follow in his footsteps.[4] Although she is half-Tamil and half-Telug u, she considers Telugu her mother tongue as she was brought up speaking only Te lugu at her home.[5] She also speaks Hindi, Tamil and English fluently.[6] Her parents were not married at the time of her birth, and her father did not ac knowledge his paternity during her childhood.[4] It was in early 1970s, when she was looking for a footing in Bollywood, that she revealed her origins. Later, a t the peak of her career, Rekha told a magazine interviewer that her father's ne glect still rankled and that she had ignored his efforts at reconciliation.[4] R ekha quit school to start a career in acting. She did not have any personal aspi rations in this direction, but the troubled financial state of her family compel led her to do so.[7] Rekha appeared as a child actress (credited as Baby Bhanurekha) in the Telugu fi lm Rangula Ratnam (1966). Rekha made her debut as heroine in the successful Kann ada film Goa dalli CID 999 with Rajkumar in 1969.[4] In that same year, she star red in her first Hindi film, Anjana Safar. She later claimed that she was tricke d into a kissing scene with the leading actor Biswajit for the overseas market,[ 8] and the kiss made it to the Asian edition of Life magazine.[9] The film ran i nto censorship problems, and would not be released until almost a decade later i n 1979 (retitled as Do Shikaari).[10] In 1980, Rekha appeared in the comedy Khubsoorat, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherj ee, with whom she had developed a strong father-daughter bond during their previ ous collaborations. In a role written specially for her, she played Manju Dayal, a young vivacious woman who visits her recently married sister at her in-law's house and tries to bring joy to the wide family, much to the displeasure of the matriarch of the household.[19] Rekha said she easily identified with the bubbly nature of her character, calling it "quite a bit me".[20] Khubsoorat was a succ ess and Rekha was appreciated for her comic timing.[16] It won the Filmfare Awar d for Best Movie and Rekha won her first Best Actress award. The Tribune describ ed the film as "a lively comedy," noting that "Rekha's spunky performance gives the film its natural zing."[21] Film World magazine reported in that same year, "Rekha's done it. Smoothly, successfully. From a plump, pelvis-jerking, cleavage -flashing temptress, she has metamorphosed into a sleek, accomplished actress. G one are most of the inane mannerisms, pouts, wiggles and giggles." It further no ted that her career prospects had begun to improve significantly, as leading fil mmakers had started taking more notice of her and become more keen to cast her i n their films.[22] The 1990s saw a drop in Rekha's success. She was part of several commercially an d critically unsuccessful films, in spite of doing even more challenging roles. Critics, however, noted that unlike most of the actresses of her generation, lik e Hema Malini and Raakhee, who began playing character parts of mothers and aunt s, Rekha was still playing leading roles at the time when heroines such as Sride vi and Madhuri Dixit rose to fame.[12] In the 2000s, Rekha appeared in relatively few movies, usually in supporting mot her roles. She started the decade with Bulandi, directed by Rama Rao Tatineni. In 2001, Rekha appeared in Rajkumar Santoshi's feminist drama Lajja, an ensemble

piece inspired by a true incident of a woman being raped in Bawanipur two years before.[39] The film follows the journey of a runaway wife (Manisha Koirala) an d unfolds her story in three main chapters, each one presenting the story of a w oman at whose place she stops. Rekha was the protagonist of the final chapter, a round which the film's inspiration revolves, playing Ramdulari, an oppressed Dal it village woman and social activist who becomes a victim of gangrape. Speaking of the film, Rekha commented, "I am Lajja and Lajja is me".[40] Highly praised f or her portrayal, she received several nominations for her work, including a Bes t Supporting Actress nomination at Filmfare. Taran Adarsh wrote that "it is Rekh a who walks away with the glory, delivering one of the finest performances the I ndian screen has seen in the recent times."[41][42] She was rumuored to have a romantic affair with Amitabh Bachchan.In 1990, Rekha married Delhi-based industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal. A year later while she was in L ondon he committed suicide, after several previous attempts, leaving a note, "Don' t blame anyone".[52] She was pilloried by the press at that time, a period which one journalist termed as "the deepest trough in her life."[53] She was rumoured to have been married to actor Vinod Mehra in 1973, but in a 2004 television int erview with Simi Garewal she denied being married to Mehra referring to him as a "well-wisher". Rekha currently lives in her Bandra home in Mumbai.[54][55] She was referred to as the reigning Queen of Indian Cinema at the 2012 IIFA Awar ds held in Singapore, where she was given the "Outstanding Contribution to India n Cinema (Female)" award, also referred to as the Lifetime Achievement Award.[66 ] Bhanurekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian film actress who has mainly appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility and acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Hindi cinema,[1] Rekha started her career in 1966 as a child actress in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for th at year, though her film debut as a lead happened four years later with Sawan Bh adon (1970). Despite the success of several of her early films, she was often pa nned for her looks and it was not until the mid-to-late 1970s that she got recog nition as an actress. Since the late 1970s, after undertaking a physical transfo rmation, she has been featured as a sex symbol in the Indian media.[2] Rekha has acted in over 180 films in a career spanning over 40 years. Throughout her career, she has often played strong female characters and, apart from mains tream cinema, appeared in arthouse films, known in India as parallel cinema. She has won tree Filmfare Awards, two for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress, for her roles in Khubsoorat (1980), Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) and Khilad iyon Ka Khiladi (1996), respectively. Her portrayal of a classical courtesan in Umrao Jaan (1981) won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. Though her c areer has gone through certain periods of decline, she has reinvented herself nu merous times and has been credited for her ability to sustain her status.[3] In 2010, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.