Bhanurekha was born in the Telugu-speaking Ganesan household on October 10, 1954. Her dad was the popular Tamil actor, Gemini, while her mom was a popular Telugu actress, Pushpavalli. She has seven sisters and one brother. One of her sisters is Dr. Kamala Selvaraj, while another one, Radha, lives in San Francisco with a son named Naveed, who is being readied to act in Bollywood movies. No stranger to the tinsel screen, Bhanurekha acted in a Telugu movie 'Rangula Ratnam' as Baby Bhanurekha along with her mom during 1966, which was subsequently re-made and released in Hindi during 1976 as Rangila Ratan (1976). She acted in one more Telugu as well as one Kannada movie (Amma Kosam and Goadalli CID 999 respectively) before re-locating to Bombay. Due to her background, she ended up being very gloomy and pessimistic during her early years. She get a chance to debut in Bollywood movies during 1970 with Sawan Bhadon (1970) opposite Navin Nischol with a screen name of Rekha. Inability to speak Hindi, a dusky complexion as well as her weight did not exactly add to her assets in a predominantly fair-skinned, Hindi-speaking North-Indian film industry. She decided to take matters seriously, took Yoga, shed those extra pounds, learned Hindi and dancing, and thus was born a new and much improved Rekha - who went on to deliver one box office hit after another for example Nagin (1976), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Mr. Natwarlal (1979), Khubsoorat (1980), Umrao Jaan (1981), Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) amongst others. In her later years she has taken up character roles and appeared as a mother, even a grandmother in Krrish (2006) during 2006. Her slim, slender looks got her many admirers, including well established Bollywood actors such as Kiran Kumar , Jeetendra , Vinod Mehra , and Amitabh Bachchan . Her marriage to Vinod ended in a divorce, and she ended up getting married to a businessman, Mukesh Aggarwal. This marriage also resulted in a divorce, with Mukesh killing himself shortly thereafter. She likes to surf the Internet, has written biographies of actresses like Zeenat Aman , and Salma Agha on IMDb, likes to collect old photographs and postcards, mimic people, watch movies, and practices Yoga regularly, read comics like Archie and Dennie the Menace, and is a vegetarian. She now lives with her Secretary, Farzana, and pets in a self-owned bungalow in Bandra (West)in Mumbai.

Daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli .Does yoga every day to maintain her ageless look.Hindi megastarFormed a popular screen couple with Amitabh Bachchan , with whom she made a total of nine films as a heroine to him.Was obese and plump in her first films in the early 70s but underwent a spectacular transformation and became the ageless icon of beauty and glamour of Bollywood.Credits the regular nutritious diet and exercise as the secret to her ageless face and figure.Has been called the Madonna and Cher of the Bollywood industry because of her constant reinvention throughout her career.Has gained icon status in Bollywood cinema for her four decade career in the industry.Was considered for the lead in Market (2003)When she played the teacher of the Kama Sutra in the controversial film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), many people at the time thought that it would put an end to her career.Has a younger sister who resides in California.Was considered for the role of Queen Noor Jehan in the movie Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005).The entire Bollywood industry was shocked in the early 80s when Rekha's secret affair was revealed with Amitabh Bachchan , who was married to Jaya Bhaduri . Oddly enough, the three of them later starred in the film Silsila (1981), which dealt with the topic of a married man in love with woman other than his wife. This would be Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan 's last film together.In 2001, she tried to stop author Mohan Deep from publishing a biography on her called 'Eurekha!'. She failed but would visit bookstores and ask the owners not to keep copies of 'Eurekha!' on their shelves.Loves to read comics. Her favourites include Dennis The Menace and Archie.Was good friends with actress Meena Kumari before Meena's death.Used to have a dog named Pisti who passed away. She now has a cat called Bhaiyyu.Some of her favorite western singers include Laura Branigan , Barbra Streisand , Bryan Adams , Whitney Houston and Sting .Says that if she could change one thing about herself, it would be her hips.Has a large collection of of tissue Kanjeevaram and chiffon saris, most of which are of the color gold.Said that if she had a son, she would want him to be like Hrithik Roshan . Her dream came true when she played Hrithik's mom in the movie Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and also his grandmother in Krrish (2006).Loves nature, and enjoys working in her garden and taking care of her plants.In 1986, forty-eight pieces of her expensive jewelery was stolen from her house. The thief, Muniraj Kanappa, was later caught and sentenced to seven years in prison. The court held the jewelery and planned on giving it back after she filed the due application form. But it wasn't until 17 years later that she remembered this and then went in to collect her jewelery.Could barely speak a word of Hindi at the start of her career. She learned Hindi and then later learned the nuances of Urdu for her role of a courtesan in Umrao Jaan (1981).Is a huge fan of Oprah Winfrey and watches her show regularly.Is a vegetarian.She is very active on the Internet, especially on sites about movies. She is also a staunch feminist.Has a search engine named after her with the domain name www.rekha.com.Listed #50 by the UK magazine Eastern Eye one of "Asia's Sexiest Women" (Sept/2006).Has seven sisters and one brother.Ranked #5 by rediff.com in its list of the "Top 10 Bollywood Actresses Ever". (March 2007).Even though the movies she has made are in Hindi, her mother tongue is actually Telugu.