From the archive record
Rekha was born Bhanurekha Ganesan in Chennai on 10 October 1954 to South Indian actors Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli. Rekha was asked by her mother (Pushpavalli ) to start an acting career when their family faced financial troubles in 1968, as the latter was sure that it would help them. Although never had interest for acting, Rekha (who was initially aspired to be a flight attendant) obeyed her desire and, at the age of 13 to 14—while she was in ninth grade—she dropped out from school to start a full-time career in acting. Rekha's first performance-oriented role came in 1976 when she played Amitabh Bachchan's ambitious and greedy wife in Do Anjaane; it would be her first of many appearances with the actor.(They appeared together in Namak Haraam (1973), but Rekha was paired opposite Rajes