Rekha refused to attend father Gemini Ganesan’s funeral; ‘proudest moment’ when he acknowledged her on stage: ‘Didn’t know what father meant’

Rekha with her father Gemini Ganesan. (Photo: Express Archives)

Rekha has lived most of her life as a glamorous superstar, but way before she started living a life of materialistic luxury, where she could buy anything she wanted, she lived within limited means. Rekha, born as Bhanurekha Ganesan, is the illegitimate daughter of Tamil superstar Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli. Gemini Ganesan was a married man when he had an affair with Pushpavalli, and they had two children. Bhanurekha spent her childhood and teen years being known as Gemini Ganesan’s illegitimate child, and in later years, when Rekha made a name for herself, he came to be known as her father.

Rekha grew up with six siblings, as her mother had three partners through her life. Her father, on the other hand, had eight children, four from his wife Alamelu, and two each from Pushpavalli and Savitri. In a rather heartfelt chat about her father, Rekha said that she did not know what she had missed out on, as she never had a father at home. “I was a baby when he moved out. I don’t remember that,” she told Simi Garewal and added, “Looking back, maybe I did miss him. But when you haven’t tasted something, you don’t know what it means. I didn’t know what the word ‘father’ meant.”

Rekha is the daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli. (Photo: Express Archives)

Rekha and her many siblings were not all in the same age group but one of her half-sisters was in the same school and she would often see her father drop her off at the school. Rekha was deeply aware that the superstar Gemini Ganesan was her father as her mother had always encouraged her to use his name. “I don’t think he noticed me. I don’t think he saw me,” she told Simi, until one day, her sister walked up to her and spoke to her.

In Narayani Ganesh’s book, ‘Eternal Romantic: My Father, Gemini Ganesan’, she wrote that when she was 10, a girl at school asked her why she didn’t travel with her sister. Narayani didn’t know that she had a sister in the same school and was puzzled at this statement. The girl took her to meet Rekha. “She was pretty and her eyes were lined with mascara. She said her name was Bhanurekha,” she recalled. When Narayani asked Bhanurekha who her father was, she named Gemini Ganesan. “My eyes were filled with tears. How can that be? He was my father,” she shared.

At home, Rekha was told that nothing was out of the ordinary and that her life was absolutely normal. “We were not given the impression that something was out of the ordinary or dysfunctional.” Rekha shared with Narayani for her book that even though she never lived with her father, she could always feel his presence as her mother constantly spoke about him. “Though he never lived with us, we ‘felt’ his presence wherever we went, for whatever we did. My mother constantly spoke about him, his likes and dislikes. Whatever you wish to call it – love or affection – the feeling my mother had towards him was strong and positive, it lasted throughout her life,” she said.

Rekha was only 14 when she was pulled out of school, and forced to join the movies for her mother was in massive debt. Since her father never acknowledged her presence, she lived amid murmurs about her personal life and was used to walking in and out of rooms where people whispered nasty gossip about her mother Pushpavalli. Once it was evident that the Gemini’s peers wouldn’t let Rekha’s career flourish in the south, she had to move to Bombay (then Mumbai), and here too, she had to go through a lot to make her mark in the movies.

Rekha with her father Gemini Ganesan at SCREEN Awards. (Photo: Express Archives)

Rekha had tough luck when it came to her personal life, and this became evident in her romantic relationships as well. After many heartbreaks, she decided to marry Mukesh Aggarwal in 1990. She honestly felt like this was going to be a brand new chapter in her life, and to top it all, her father Gemini Ganesan also blessed her union. As per Yasser Usman’s book Rekha: The Untold Story, the actor had a small ceremony for her wedding in Tirupati and here Gemini Ganesan was in attendance to bless his daughter. Until then, he had never acknowledged her socially. Rekha became a widow the same year as Mukesh died by suicide.

Gemini Ganesan truly acknowledged Rekha in 1994 when Filmfare honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was held in Madras (now Chennai). He called her his “dear child from Bombay.” As per an India Today report from the time, he said, “I realise that the child is the father of man,” as Rekha was on the verge of tears. She said, with pride, “It is the proudest moment in my life to share the same dais as my father and present him the award.”

On that stage, it looked like the father and daughter were now a team but things didn’t change behind the scenes. In 2005, when Gemini Ganesan passed away, Rekha refused to attend his funeral. Subhash K Jha quoted Rekha saying that she had nothing to grieve for. “Why should I grieve for him when he’s so much a part of me? Why should I grieve when I’m so grateful for his genes, his teachings, rich life and his sheer existence? Grieve for what? I’m happy I didn’t have to share unpleasant moments with him. He existed for me in my imagination. And that’s so much more beautiful than reality. Everything I love is unqualified by worldly time constraints.”

Rekha celebrated her 71st birthday in October.