Of Rekha and the legendary leading ladies of yesteryears

Rekha used to think she’s the chosen one. I think I am the chosen one. Because I know Rekha…And several other supreme screen queens who have withstood the test of time to emerge as women of steel and satin.

Funny, but the men finally have a much shortler lifespan than the women. Rajesh Khanna was forgotten before his death. Sharmila Tagore isn’t. Joy Mukherjee had vanished. Asha Parekh is blessedly active. And Nutan may be gone. But not a day passes when we don’t see her image or listen to one of her songs.

Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Saira Banu, Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore, Simi Garewal, Shabana Azmi, Raakhee Gulzar…I’ve had the privilege, honour and pleasure of knowing all the ageless divas of Hindi cinema closely.

And believe me they are all a class apart. If Jaya Bachchan and Hema Malini are translucent telling-it-like-it-is queens of frankspeak (a hard position to adopt for the ladies are in politics), Asha Parekh is totally guileless and utterly warm (thereby proving that people who don’t marry retain the child within themselves forever).

Saira Banu is her husband, the mythic Dilip Kumar’s biggest fan. We instantly bond. And Simi Garewal is an absolutely adorable synthesis of a worldly woman and a spontaneous child. Her mimicry when I visit her gets me in splits.

Raakhee Gulzar is frighteningly moody…genuine warm and volatile. Shabana is the most private person I know in Bollywood. Though I’ve known her for 20 years and though she has been very forthcoming and friendly and a role-model of sorts, I don’t know who the real Shabana is.

The first time I met Rekha, she was this gorgeous apparition in spotless white. Hair tied in a selfconsciously casual bun, face completely free of makeup, sitting behind an over-sized glass-top table with the sun setting behind her with painted perfection, Rekha looked like a vision out of Sanjay Bhansali’s cinema.

Unfortunately, the interview didn’t quite satisfy her. The perfectionist that she is, Rekha asked me to drop the interview. I did. Butl, then I promptly wrote an acidic column on her. To my surprise, Rekha remembers every detail of our meeting and its somewhat disastrous aftermath.

Eccentric? I wonder who labelled her that, and for what purpose! Rekha is one of the most grounded and unassuming persons I’ve encountered in Bollywood. What’s more, she’s completely self-made. She may have plenty of blemishes as a human being. But vindictiveness and vanity aren’t among her shortcomings.

Rekha is the most non-judgemental person I know in Bollywood. Do they really think she’s eccentric? If anything Rekha is guilty of being, it’s that she is a bit too normal! And she has a truly poker-faced sense of humour. Once, we were discussing how frequently she meets her good friends. “Oh about once a year! And going by my track record, that’s quite a lot,” Rekha said. I remember once she had told me she doesn’t get affected by changes in atmospheric temperature.

Cool as a cucumber, Rekha remains hot to this day. Nothing shakes her, not outwardly. I can’t get over how much of a contrast she is to the other divas. And how different every diva from the 1970s is. Today, I fear for the future. Would any of today’s leading ladies qualify as a legend?

Will they be remembered with the same sighing reverence as Smita Patil? Ever since her death, Smita’s reputation as a ‘leaving’ legend refused to depart. Thirty three years after she’s gone, filmmakers like Govind Nihalani, Ketan Mehta and Sudhir Mishra are still looking for faces that would remind them of Smita Patil.

Yesterday’s femme fatale Helen is feted till this day. Would any director of 2040 be looking for Rakhi Sawant?