Rekha shares Fond Memories of her Mother

Rekha spoke about her mother Pushpavalli and the fond memories she has of her.

Rekha comes from a film background, which her parents were also part of.

Her father, Gemini Ganesan was a well-known name in the Tamil film industry, whereas her mother Pushpavalli was a big name in the Telugu film industry.

Speaking in an interview, Rekha fondly spoke of her mother and the influence she had in her acting journey.

She referred to her mother as her “mentor” and revealed that she was the one who taught her the “grace of living with love”.

Rekha elaborated: “My mother was my mentor, a woman of such finesse she felt like a goddess, a devi.

“She taught me the grace of living with gentility and love.

“She always said I should never lose the ankh ki chamak, or ‘twinkle in the eyes’, because it is that joyful perception that makes one appreciate the beauty of a tiny seed that grows into a majestic tree.

“She also advised me wisely to practise what I love, not what I preach. She set the benchmark for me because my mother walked the talk.”

Rekha sadly lost her mother in 1991 and this left a tremendous emptiness in her life.

But the legendary actress continues to implement her mother’s teaching in her daily life.

The actress went on to say: “To make the ordinary extraordinary, I learned long ago that authenticity is key. But how do you recognise it?

“My mother taught me by just the way she lives and created a home that was very sensorial.

“I was immersed in her world of sufi music, Urdu shayari, Chettinad art, and South India culture that I imbibed subliminally.

“She lived without synthetics, plastics, and wore pure organic fabrics because everything she touched was sacred to her.

“This sense of adoration for the aesthete has never left me.”

Rekha has known for starring in the likes of Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Khoobsurat (1980) and Silsila (1981).

But she has not starred in a film since Super Nani, which came out in 2014.

On why she has not starred in a film since then, Rekha told Vogue Arabia:

“Whether I make films or not, it never leaves me. I have my memories to relive what I love.”

“And when the time is right, the right project will find me.

“My person is my own, but my cinematic persona is in the eyes of the beholder.

“Therefore I choose where I want to be and where I don’t want to be. I am so blessed to have earned the right to choose what I love. And to have the luxury to simply say no.”