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If there is one love story that one can never have enough of, it has to be Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha’s tumultuous yet spicy love affair. Amitabh Bachchan was already dating Jaya Bachchan when he first met Rekha. At that time, both Amitabh and Jaya were established actors in Bollywood, meanwhile, Rekha, was a happy-go-lucky teenager who used to come late to work. This was also the time that Rekha and Jaya shared the same apartment complex and were cordial with each other. Rekha even had a sweet nickname for Jaya, ‘Didibhai’. Today, on Amitabh Bachchan’s 81st birthday, we look at how Rekha met the superstar via Jaya Bachchan!
An excerpt from Yaseer Uman’s book titled Rekha: The Untold Story revealed that Rekha and Jaya once lived in the same apartment building when the former was just 18 years old. The chapter titled ‘Didibhai’ talks about Rekha and Jaya’s friendship and how it turned sour in a short time.
An excerpt from the book read, “After the success of her first few films, She bought her own flat in Bombay in 1972. Leaving Hotel Ajanta, she shifted to Juhu’s Beach Apartments at age eighteen. In the same apartment building lived the actress Jaya Bhaduri, who had by then firmly established herself as an actress par excellence. She had the range to easily fit the needs of commercial as well as ‘meaningful’ cinema. This was why she was counted amongst the most versatile, important, and serious actors of that time. Rekha and Jaya began their film careers around the same time. Their growth trajectories as actors, however, were starkly different.”
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Another portion of the book read, “At Beach Apartments, Rekha and Jaya would often meet. Rekha affectionately called Jaya ‘Didibhai’, and frequently went over to Jaya’s flat to spend time with her. The latter would advise her on life and career. It was there that Rekha first met Jaya’s boyfriend, Amitabh Bachchan.”
The book also shared an excerpt from actor Mehmood’s official biography written by Hanif Zaveri that revealed that Jaya, Rekha, and Big B used to often go for long drives. The excerpt read, “‘Amitabh and Anwar [Mehmood’s brother] were close friends. Anwar told me that he had often taken Amitabh and Jaya on long drives. The two would sit in the front seat of the car along with him while Rekha would sit in the back seat and they would talk through the journey.’ This is also recorded in Mehmood’s official biography, Mehmood: A Man of Many Moods.”
Jaya and Big B tied the knot in 1973, and Rekha was not invited. This began the downfall of Rekha and Jaya’s friendship.
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