Truth Behind the Unfortunate Love Story of Amitabh and Rekha
Amitabh and Rekha's much-talked about love story always remained a mystery as both the actors never accepted it in public. While the two themselves have said very little, everyone else seems more than certain of the affair. Amitabh and Rekha- the two legends of our film industry, how did it all begin and how it ended? Here is unfolding the secret behind this love-story.
An unsuccessful love-story of one of the most successful romantic pairs of Bollywood
Their love story began on the sets of film Do Anjaane. During the initial days of their relationship, the couple used to meet in a bungalow that belonged to Rekha's friend. Everything was a smooth sail until an incident happened.
During the shoots of Ganga Ki Saugandh, Big B reportedly lost his temper on a co-actor who was misbehaving with Rekha. After this, their affair came in the lime-light and grabbed the media attention. The gossip mills started churning out stories of Rekha-Amitabh's affair. They even made headlines saying that Rekha and Amitabh have got secretly married. But these speculations caught more fire when Rekha turned up at Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh's wedding wearing sindoor and mangalsutra. Many questions about this jodi’s affair were answered with this bold step of Rekha.
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It was reported that after this incident, Jaya Bachchan, invited Rekha home for dinner and told her candidly that that she would never leave her husband whatever may happen. And likewise Jaya kept her promise till the very end.
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In an interview given to Filmfare magazine in 1984, Rekha spoke about Amitabh’s denial of their relationship. She said, "Why should he have not done it? He did it to protect his image, his family, his children. Why should the public know of my love for him or his love for me? I love him and he loves me- that’s it! If he’d reacted that ways towards me in private, I would have been very disappointed.” She further added, “Mr. Bachchan is still old-fashioned. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody so why hurt his wife?”
Amitabh Bachchan despite the superfluous love for Rekha, never admitted it in public. On the other hand, Rekha boldly admitted her love for him. Silsila was this enigmatic couple's last film together.
In an interview with BBC, director Yash Chopra said that Rekha and Amitabh were very much in a relationship before Silsila. Chopra said, "I was always on tenterhooks and scared (during Silsila) because it was real life coming into reel life. Jaya is his wife and Rekha is his girlfriend and the same story is going on (in real life). Anything could have happened because they are working together."
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After the shoot of Silsila, Amitabh-Rekha’s relationship began to fade. Rekha wanted to marry Amitabh and did not want to settle down with the tag of the 'other woman' in Amitabh's life. She realised she has no future in this relationship. With this, their passionate love story came to an end both on and off screen.
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Post-Silsila, Amitabh is said to have ignored Rekha altogether till this date. Even recently in the 54th Filmfare awards, Amitabh suddenly got up and moved away as Rekha came near to where he was seated. This incident shows that the wounds may have healed with time, the scars never disappeared. Rekha's lonely life has seen many rumours and some truth. Even her marriage did not last long. But whatever the circumstances had been for their breakup, the heavy aura of this sad love-story still lingers on!
