When you look at some Bollywood beauties, in your heart you feel this diva was born to be an actress. It was written in her fate to rule the big screen. However, there are a few evergreen beauties of the glam world who never wanted to be an actor to start with. One such personality is the OG Umraon Jaan Rekha.
Veteran actress Rekha has time and again been very candid about the fact that it was never her dream to be an actor.She was forced to get into movies. People and situations around her, made her choose this path. “Financially, I had to take charge. Things were difficult at home. There was a shortage of money and six children to look after. My mother just said, ‘You have to do this,’” shared Rekha during her old conversation with Simi Grewal.
When asked if young Bhanu Rekha (her real name) ever thought of being a star, the actress confessed, “No, never! At that time, all I wanted was to get married and to be loved and to spend the rest of my life with someone who truly cared for me, and have lots of children.”
In another interview, the actress confessed she was very young, naive, and vulnerable. People even tried to take advantage of her. The actress often wondered why was she forced to work at an age when she should be in school.
“Bombay was like a jungle, and I had walked in it unarmed. It was one of the most frightening phases of my life. I was totally ignorant of the ways of this new world. Guys did try to take advantage of my vulnerability. I did feel I should be in school having ice cream with my friends. Why am I forced to work? Every single day I cried because I couldn’t eat what I liked, wear full crazy clothes, with sequins and stuff poking into my body, hairspray wouldn’t go away despite many washings, I was pushed, literally dragged from one studio to another,” said Rekha during her word with journalist Pritish Nandy.
However, years passed and Rekha turned into the mature, strong yet kind-hearted woman we see today. Looking back at her initial days, she now doesn’t regret anything.