Waheeda Rehman was born on February 3, 1938, into a traditional Muslim family in Tamil Nadu's Chengalpattu. While studying at Visakhapatnam's Joseph's Convent School, she developed an interest in dancing and other creative arts. During her time in Chennai, she even took professional training in Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam, along with her sisters. Waheeda was one of the best dancers of her batch, and at the mere age of 17, she made her Telugu film debut with the film, Rojulu Marayi as a dancer.
Iconic film director, Raj Khosla's film, C.I.D. was the one with which Waheeda Rehman introduced herself to the Hindi film industry. The second Hindi film of her career was Pyaasa, which cemented her status as one of the emerging stars of the 50s at the age of 19. In the following years, she appeared in a series of successful films like Solva Saal, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Kala Bazar, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Bees Saal Baad, Guide, Patthar Ke Sanam, Ram Aur Shyam, Neel Kamal, Khamoshi, Reshma Aur Shera, Kabhi Kabhie, Namkeen, Chandni, Lamhe, and many more.
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Once, in an old interview with Tweak India, Waheeda Rehman opened up about her childhood and surprisingly revealed that she had never aspired to become an actress. The iconic actress revealed that she wanted to become a doctor because, back in those days, medicine was the only profession that was considered as a respectable profession in Muslim families. However, she also added that she always wanted to make people laugh and cry, which was why she chose acting as a profession. Opening up about the same, she said:
"I wanted to become a doctor, because in those days for Muslim families medicine was the only respectable profession. I used to make faces looking in the mirror. When my father asked why do I do this, I said 'I want to make people laugh and cry'."
In a career spanning six decades, Waheeda Rehman has given tons of memorable acting performances, and her contribution to Indian cinema needs no introduction. The actress was bestowed with India's highest award for cinematic excellence, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, back in 2023 at the 69th National Film Awards. While everyone is aware of Waheeda Rehman's illustrious career, it is her personal life that never made it into the media spotlight. Thus, today, we are going to talk about her husband, Shashi Rekhi, commonly known by his stage name, Kamaljeet.
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Shashi Rekhi was one of the finest actors of his generation. Some of his memorable acting performances came in the films, Son of India, Shagoon, Heer Ranjha, Tamacha, Mr. India, Kismet Ka Khel, and Mr. Lambu. According to several media reports, after Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt's love story ended, the former fell in love with Shashi Rekhi. After dating each other for some time, Waheeda and Shashi told their respective parents about their relationship.
When Waheeda Rehman told her parents about her relationship with Shashi Rekhi, they disapproved of it immediately. The actress was in distress as most of her known people advised her to drop the idea of getting married to Shashi. It was when Waheeda Rehman talked to Salim Khan and discussed her problem with him. The critically acclaimed screenwriter advised Waheeda to follow her heart and pumped her up to make the biggest decision of her life. It was in 1974 when Waheeda and Shashi got married, and they welcomed two kids, Sohail Rekhi and Kashvi Rekhi. For the unversed, Shashi Rekhi passed away back on November 21, 2000.
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One of the biggest lesser-known facts about Waheeda Rehman is that her husband, Shashi Rekhi was the brother of legendary actress, Priya Rajvansh. Just like her brother, she was also a professional actor, but it is fair to say that the latter had more success in the film industry. She was one of the highest-paid actresses of her time and is still remembered for her acting chops. Apart from having an illustrious career as an actress in the Indian film industry, she was also known for dating Dev Anand's brother, Chetan Anand.
For the uninitiated, Priya Rajvansh and Chetan Anand fell in love during the filming of Heer Ranjha. Despite having a 16-year age difference, Priya and Chetan were quite serious about each other. Things took a major turn when they started living together. Everything was going perfectly fine in their paradise until July 6, 1997, when Chetan Anand passed away at the age of 82 due to some age-related health problems.
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For the unversed, Chetan Anand was married to Uma Anand before the beginning of his relationship with Priya Rajvansh. The director also welcomed two sons, Ketan Anand and Vivek Anand, along with his wife, Uma Anand. After his separation from Uma Anand, it was revealed that Chetan Anand had distributed his property to his sons and Priya Rajvansh.
It was on March 27, 2000, when Priya Rajvansh was found dead inside Chetan Anand's Ruia Park bungalow. After some investigation, Mumbai police charged Ketan Anand and Vivek Anand, along with two employees, Mala Choudhary and Ashok Chinnaswamy, under the charges of murder. It was in 2001 when a trial court convicted them for abetment of an offence punishable with life imprisonment or death. The court awarded life imprisonment to both of them, but they moved to Mumbai High Court, and it granted bail to Ketan and Vivek in Priya Rajvansh's murder.
What are your thoughts on the revelation about Waheeda Rehman's husband, Shashi Rekhi's sister, Priya Rajvansh? Let us know.
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