Happy Birthday Rekha: A look at her best performances

Synonymous with grace, glamour, and grandeur, the timeless beauty of Bollywood, Rekha lent her elegance and gravitas to redefine Bollywood heroine back in her days. While the veteran star started as a child artist at the age of 12 with the Telugu movie Rangula Ratnam in 1966, Rekha got her breakthrough with the Hindi movie Sawan Bhadon in 1970. And the rest is history. Rekha wears her illustrious career as a crown that spans more than five decades. Adorned with angelic beauty and wrapped with timeless talent, the actress has even clinched several prestigious awards and accolades to her name. Ageing truly like a fine wine, Rekha is celebrating her 68th birthday today and on that occasion let’s walk down memory lane of some of her phenomenal performances. Umrao Jaan This 1981 classic film is hands down one of the best movies of Rekha , whose stellar performance made her bag a National Award for Best Actress. A career-defining role of a courtesan and poetess in Muzzaffar Ali’s period piece is based on 19th-century Lucknow. Silsila Being ahead of its time, this 1981 romantic drama might be a commercial failure at the box office but turned out to be a cult favourite. And why not? After all, it is one of the masterpieces brought to life by non-other than Yash Chopra . Starring Rekha, Amitabh Bachchan , and Jaya Bachchan, Silsila is one of the most controversial films of the actress’ career. Khoon Bhari Maang Changing the perception of the cinema-goers around female actresses in the Hindi film industry, this Rakesh Roshan directorial was released in 1988 and portrayed Rekha as a strong character of Arti. While the movie turned out to be both a critical and commercial success, the actress bagged her second Filmfare award for the film in the category of Best Actress. Utsav Being ahead of its time, this Girish Karnad’s directorial portrayed Rekha in all her sensuality and boldness, which was path-breaking in every way keeping its release year 1984 in mind. Featuring Rekha opposite Shekhar Suman, Utsav stood out to be a career boost for the actor, that too quite early. Aastha Considered one of the most challenging roles of Rekha’s career, the actress simply dismantled every social conception of a middle-class Indian wife. In this 1997 movie, the veteran star moved every viewer in her favour with sheer brilliance and ease. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.