Rekha has been the definition of an Indian cine queen for decades. The actress has owned this title with her enigmatic presence and iconic performances, making room for herself in everyone's memories. The actress has inspired so many generations of women with her magnificent persona and has comfortably set the bar high for upcoming actresses. Despite many wonderful actresses gracing Bollywood after her, she has still remained incomparable.
One of the greatest filmmakers of modern-day Indian cinema, Shyam Benegal, gave Rekha her title of being 'Non-Pariel'. In an old interview with O2 Studio, Shyam, who recently passed away at the age of 90, spoke very highly of Rekha, with whom he had worked in the 1981 film, Kalyug. For the unversed, the filmmaker passed away due to a chronic kidney disease.
Shyam was known for not casting major stars in his films, so his decision to cast Rekha came as a surprise to a lot of people. During the interview, the filmmaker mentioned how Rekha had a photographic memory and would remember the lines after just one read. He was quoted saying:
"Rekha was a huge star. She was glamorous and attractive and was a star on the count of that, but the fact of the matter is she was an outstanding actor. They had gotten used to me choosing actors who were not stars. She had a photographic memory. You give her a dialogue; she reads it once, and she remembers it. In fact, she can remember it even if someone reads it to her."
In the same conversation, Shyam Benegal shared an anecdote from his filming experience with the iconic actress, Rekha. He revealed that since the actress had an important role in the film, he booked a dubbing studio for three days and informed the actress to be there by 9 am.
He further added that the actress was over three hours late and got there at half past twelve, which made him furious. However, Shyam's anger was short-lived, and his rage melted away as soon as the actress started the dubbing process. He shared that the actress had such an extraordinary talent that, with a few tweaks, they had done the entire dubbing in one session. Sharing on the incident, Shyam had stated:
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"Since she played a prominent role in the film, I had booked the dubbing studio for three days. Rekha was supposed to come in at 9, but she didn’t turn up till 12.30, and I was getting angry. She came in at 12.30, and the lunch break was at 1. We didn’t break for lunch, extended the dubbing session to 20 minutes, and she finished all her lines. We didn’t just break for lunch that day but ended the day itself and even cancelled the studio we had booked for three more days for her dubbing. That was her extraordinary talent."
What are your thoughts on Shyam Benegal's revelation about Rekha?
Next Read: Rajesh Khanna Signed A Bad Film For Rs. 5 Lakh Without Reading The Script Because He Needed Money
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