Rakesh Roshan on Rekha: 'People warned me about her, but she never gave me trouble'

With a career spanning the 1970s and beyond, Rekha has become a cinematic mainstay, renowned for her stunning good looks, exquisite dancing technique, and outstanding acting. But Rakesh Roshan tells a different tale, detailing how many industry insiders attempted to bring Rekha down as her fame grew by spreading rumours about her unprofessional conduct. In a recent interview, Rakesh revealed that he had a lot of people tell him not to cast Rekha in his film Khoon Bhari Maang.

Rakesh Roshan reveals industry’s attempt to undermine Rekha

Rakesh said of his friend and co-star in an interview with ANI that Rekha has a quality which very few heroines have. With each film, she portrays a new character. Khoobsurat, Aakraman, and Aurat were the films in which she co-starred with him. People cautioned Rakesh not to go to her to offer Khoon Bhari Maang, which features a motherly character. Their argument was that if she was in a film with him, she was notoriously late and frequently ran away.

ALSO READ: Khubsoorat to Khoon Bhari Maang, 5 movies of Rekha to binge-watch on OTT 

Rakesh decided to confront her with the truth about the rumours he had heard. Whenever he had the chance to collaborate with Rekha, he never once witnessed the disparaging remarks made about her.

Confronting Rekha about rumours

Rakesh informed her when he approached her as the director that this is only his second film, and it is a difficult subject. This is a film that focuses on women and an experiment for him. The story's finale involves the wife murdering her husband.

Want more of Rekha’s stellar performances? Watch her best movies at an exclusive discounted rate on OTTplay Premium. [Subscribe Now]

He spoke to her directly and asked, "You won’t give me any trouble, will you?" Rekha said incredulously, "What are you even saying? Have I ever done this? I only trouble people who don’t pay me or they don’t fulfil their commitments."

Rekha's involvement in Koi... Mil Gaya

It was after a long time that Rakesh asked Rekha to be in his film Koi... Mil Gaya. According to his account, he proceeded to tell her the story. The filmmaker-actor followed up his storytelling with an inquiry, "How is it?" adding that she is very clever. Just as swiftly, she remarked, "You are not narrating this story to me because you want my feedback; you are narrating this to me because you want me to play the role of the mother." His answer was "yes."

ALSO READ: Best Rekha movies on ShemarooMe