Rekha Net Worth 2023: Biography, Age, Height,Career , Salary, Assets, Income
Rekha Ganesan Net Worth: Rekha Ganesan is an Indian actress who has a net worth of $40 million. Rekha Ganesan was born in Madras, Madras State, India in October 1954. She is often referred to as just Rekha and has mainly appeared in Hindi films. She has been noted as one of the best actresses in Hindi cinema. In 1966 she stared out as a child actress in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. Four years later Rekha got her lead acting debut in the film Sawan Bhadon. During her career Rekha has over 180 acting credits to her name. She is known for playing strong female characters and has also appeared in parallel cinema in Indian art house films. Rekha has won three Filmfare Awards including Best Supporting Actress once and Best Actress twice. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in 1981’s Umrao Jaan. Rekha was honored with the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2010. Some of her film titles include Double Cross, Dharma, Agreement, Mother, Censor, and Super Nani. In 2001 Rekha was awarded for her Significant Contribution to Indian Cinema at the Bombay International Film Festival. She also won the Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema in 2012 at the Awards of the International Film Academy.Also check Priyanka Chopra Net Worth and Madhuri Dixit Net Worth.
| Net Worth: | $40 Million |
| Date of Birth: | Oct 10, 1954 (68 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Chennai |
| Gender: | Female |
| Height: | 5 ft 6 in (1.7 m) |
| Profession: | Actor, Playback Singer |
| Nationality: | India |
Family, Caste & Husband
Rekha belongs to a Hindu Family. Her father, Gemini Ganesan, was a Tamil Actor, and her mother, Pushpavalli, was a Telugu Actress. Rekha was considered to be the illegitimate child of her parents as Ganeshan refused to acknowledge his paternity during her childhood. She has a sister, Radha. Rekha also has one half-brother, Sathish Kumar Ganesan, and five half-sisters, Kamala Selvaraj, Jaya Sreedhar, Vijaya Chamundeswari, Revathi Swaminathan, and Narayani Ganesh.
After Rekha shared an on-screen kiss with Biswajit Chatterjee, they both fell in love. However, there love didn’t last for long.Kareena Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut Net Worth.
Family, Caste & Husband
Rekha belongs to a Hindu Family. Her father, Gemini Ganesan, was a Tamil Actor, and her mother, Pushpavalli, was a Telugu Actress. Rekha was considered to be the illegitimate child of her parents as Ganeshan refused to acknowledge his paternity during her childhood. She has a sister, Radha. Rekha also has one half-brother, Sathish Kumar Ganesan, and five half-sisters, Kamala Selvaraj, Jaya Sreedhar, Vijaya Chamundeswari, Revathi Swaminathan, and Narayani Ganesh.
After Rekha shared an on-screen kiss with Biswajit Chatterjee, they both fell in love. However, there love didn’t last for long.
Rekha also fell in love with her co-star Navin Nischol. It was during the making of ‘Sawan Bhadon,’ but their relationship ended soon as Naviv was a married man.
Rekha then found her love in Jeetendra. She was quite serious about the actor but he was already married to Shobha Kapoor when he met Rekha. Rekha was termed as a ‘home-breaker’ when rumours about their relationship started doing rounds among the public. As a result of which, their relationship died a bitter death.
Next, she found her love in Vinod Mehra. The couple was inseparable and even there were speculations about their marriage but the couple parted ways as Vinod’s mother did not approve of their relationship.
Rekha was completely shattered after her broken relationship with Vinod Mehra when Bollywood producer, Yash Kohli brought stability in her life. However, the couple parted their ways after some time.
She even fell in love with the actor Shatrughan Sinha but their association didn’t last for long.
Career
Rekha made her acting debut in 1999 with the Kannada Film “Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999.” Next, she featured in a Telugu film “Amma Kosam.” Her Bollywood debut came with the film “Sawan Bhadon.” She had to learn Hindi for the film as she was not so good at speaking the language fluently. The film was a hit at the box office and established Rekha as an actress. Subsequently, she appeared in commercial hits films like “Raampur Ka Lakshman,” “Kahani Kismat Ki,” “Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye,” “Do Anjaane,” “Ghar,” and “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.”
In 1980, she featured in the comedy “Khubsoorat” in which she played the role of ‘Manju Dayal,’ a young women that visits her married sister’s house and brings joy to the family. The film earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The next year, she starred in “Umrao Jaan.” Her portrayal of the role of ‘Umrao’ is considered one of the best performances of her career and it even earned her a National Award for Best Actress.
Rekha starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan in a number of films, most of which were huge hits. In 1981, they appeared in “Silsila,” one of the most scandalous films, in which Rekha played Bachchan’s love interest, which his real-life wife played Jaya Bhaduri played his wife. It was the last film that they did together. Not just acting, she even gave her voice for other veteran actresses. She dubbed her voice for Neetu Singh in Yaarana and for Smita Patil in Waaris.
Rekha also tried her hands in singing on the behest of R. D. Burman. She sang two songs in her movie “Khoobsoorat.”
Controversies
- 15-year-old Rekha became the victim of controversy during the shoot of her film “Anjana Safar” opposite Biswajeet Chatterjee. It is mentioned in her biography, that a romantic scene featuring Rekha and Biswajeet Chatterjee was supposed to be shot with no intimate/offensive actions. However, as soon as the camera rolled, Biswajeet grabbed her from her back and pressed his lips against hers without giving her any time to react. The director kept yelling “cut” but Biswajeet did not stop for at least 5 minutes and the crew members kept whistling and mocking at the scene. It was further alleged in the biography that both the actor and the director had carved out this act for their personal and commercial benefits respectively.
- Rekha’s love fling with actor Vinod Mehra was once the talk of the town. It was also speculated that the duo got married in a secret ceremony in Kolkata but when Vinod took Rekha to his house, his mother behaved with Rekha in a highly hostile manner. She pushed Rekha away when the actress tried to seek her blessings. She kept abusing and humiliating Rekha and even refused to let her enter the house. Vinod tried to keep the matter under control but his mother was too agitated that she even took off her sandals and almost assaulted Rekha with it.
- Rishi Kapoor married Neetu Singh on 22 January 1980. It was during their wedding that many Bollywood personalities including Rekha, Amitabh Bachchan, and Jaya Bachchan were invited to the event. Rekha entered the venue in a White Saree with a Red Bindi on her forehead and Sindoor in her hair. She headed directly towards Amitabh and confronted him for around 5 minutes. Jaya could not bear the situation and ended up in tears. Till date, the exact conversation between the two is not known and thus have made their way to numerous speculations.Rekha at Rishi Kapoor’s marriage
- According to her biography, Rekha: The Untold Story, her husband, Mukesh Agarwal, was a patient of chronic depression and was even seeing a psychiatrist for the same. Cracks started appearing in their marriage just within 7 months of their association as Mukesh began exhibiting erratic behaviour. On 2 October 1990, a year after their marriage, Mukesh committed suicide by hanging himself to his bedroom’s ceiling fan following which people started blaming Rekha for this incident and even declared her a ‘man-eater witch.’
- In the ’90s, Rekha along with Kajol shot for the cover of a popular magazine, where they both tucked themselves into one sweater. The cover created havoc throughout the country. However, no explanation was given for the idea behind the shoot.Rekha Kajol on the magazine cover
- Rekha again attracted controversy at the red carpet of an award function when she got so excited to see Hrithik Roshan
Net Worth
Her net worth is estimated to be $30 million.
Favourite Things
- Actress: Kangana Ranaut
Some Lesser Known Facts About Rekha
- Does Rekha smoke: Not Known
- Does Rekha drink alcohol: Not Known
- Rekha is the illegitimate child of late South Indian actors Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli. His father even refused to acknowledge his paternity towards Rekha.
- Rekha has one real sister, five half sisters and one half brother from her father Gemini Ganesan.
- A travel freak, Rekha dreamt of becoming an air hostess in her younger days. However, she was rejected owing to her young age.
- She then started thinking of becoming a nun as her convent school housed many Irish nuns. Poor financial conditions, however, forced young Rekha to work in B and C grade Telugu films.
- During her initial days in the film industry, Rekha was always looked down upon because of her dark complexion and was sometimes even referred to as an ‘ugly duckling.’
- Apart from acting, Rekha has also given her voice-over for other veteran actresses. She dubbed for Neetu Singh in Yaarana (1981) and Smita Patil in Waaris (1988).
- On R. D. Burman’s behest, Rekha even took to singing. She sang two songs in her movie titled Khoobsoorat (1980).
- It is said that the Evergreen diva has no fashion stylist. Since day one, she has been picking up her own clothes and selecting hairstyles of her liking.
- Unlike most Bollywood stars, Rekha is known for being punctual.
- In the year 1982, Rekha was awarded the National Award in the Best Actress category for her movie Umrao Jaan (1982). Furthermore, recognizing her immense contribution to Indian cinema, the government of India awarded her the Padma Shri, India fourth highest civilian honour, in 2010.
- Rekha along with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was nominated to the upper house of parliament in 2012. Rekha was put on the standing committee on food, consumer affairs and civil supplies.
- A pure vegetarian, Rekha now likes to spend time in solitude. In an interview, she said that she now spends most of her time gardening and painting.