Bhanurekha Ganesan (pronounced [ˈbʱaːnuɾeːkʰa ɡaɳeːʃan]; born 10 October 1954), better known by her mononymous stage name Rekha, is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi films.

The daughter of actors Pushpavalli and Gemini Ganesan, Rekha started her career as a child actress in Telugu films Inti Guttu (1958) and Rangula Ratnam (1966).

In 1996, she played against type in the role of an underworld don in the action thriller Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), for which she won a third Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actress category, and further appeared in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) and Aastha: In the Prison of Spring (1997) to critical acclaim but some public scrutiny.

Guys did try and take advantage of my vulnerability... Every single day I cried, because I had to eat what I didn't like, wear crazy clothes with sequins and stuff poking into my body.

In late 1968, the Nairobi-based businessman Kuljeet Pal visited Gemini Studios to search a newcomer for his new project Anjana Safar (an adaption of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines).

[39] Also that year, she announced her debut to public and the media, and the successful Kannada film Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999 with Dr. Rajkumar, where she features as a lead for the first time, was released.

A controversy arose around a kissing scene featuring Rekha and male lead Biswajit Chatterjee, of which she was not notified as Nawathe wanted to maintain her natural reaction.

[36][57] She was highly prolific during the decade, working on average in ten films a year, most of which were deemed potboilers and failed to propel her career forward in terms of roles and appreciation.

[58] She appeared in several commercially successful films at the time, including Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972), Kahani Kismat Ki (1973), and Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974), yet she was not regarded for her acting abilities and—according to the author Tejaswini Ganti—"the industry was surprised by her success as her dark complexion, plump figure, and garish clothing contradicted the norms of beauty prevalent in the film industry and in society.

[64] Rekha recalls that the way she was perceived at that time motivated her to change her appearance and improve her choice of roles: "I was called the [ugly duckling] of Hindi films because of my dark complexion and South Indian features.

In a role written specially for her, she played Manju Dayal, a young vivacious woman who visits her recently married sister and tries to bring joy to the wide family, much to the dissatisfaction of the matriarch of the household.

[97] Maang Bharo Sajana and Judaai, both directed by T. Rama Rao, and Saawan Kumar Tak's Saajan Ki Saheli, brought her further critical attention that year.

[100][105] The film premiered in July 1981 to critical and commercial failure, and Chopra attributed this to the casting, feeling the audience's attention was strictly focused on the speculation rather than the plot.

[112] Made on a lavish production cost,[113] the film follows Umrao's life story from her childhood as a girl named Amiran who is kidnapped and sold in a brothel to her position years later as a popular courtesan who seeks happiness amid love affairs and other tribulations.

[65] Among her work in art films, Shyam Benegal's Kalyug is a modern-day adaptation of the Indian mythological epic Mahabharata, depicted as an archetypal conflict between rival business houses.

[124] The 1982 coming-of-age film Vijeta saw her as Neelima who struggles through her marital problems and tries to support her adolescent son, who, undecided about his future plans, eventually decides to join the Indian Air Force.

[68] In Girish Karnad's erotic drama Utsav, based on Śūdraka's Sanskrit play Mṛcchakatika from the fourth century, she portrays the courtesan Vasantasena and, for her performance, was acknowledged as the Best Actress (Hindi) by the Bengal Film Journalists' Association.

[131] Made by Rakesh Roshan specifically with Rekha in mind, the film featured her in the role Aarti Saxena, a wealthy, unassuming widow who narrowly survives an attempted murder by her scheming second husband and—presumed to be dead—returns to seek revenge under a concealed identity.

Dhawan from The Tribune, while documenting the famous Hindi films of 1988, remarked that Khoon Bhari Maang was "a crowning glory for Rekha, who rose like a phoenix ... and bedazzled the audience with her daredevilry.

"[135] In later interviews, Rekha has mentioned that receiving the Filmfare Award for this role was a surprise and a turning point that gave her reassurance and validation after taking a small break and getting eclipsed by younger stars.

[139] The public's acceptance of Phool Bane Angaray and Khoon Bhari Maang prompted several filmmakers to come with similar offers to Rekha, and she played such roles—labeled "avenging angels"—in several of her proceeding projects to a much less consequential effect.

[141] Halfway through the decade, Rekha managed to halt her decline when she accepted several highly-controversial films, including Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996).

[144] It featured Rekha in her first negative role as Madam Maya, a vicious gangster woman running a secret business of illegal wrestling matches in the US, who, during the course of the film, romances the much younger Akshay Kumar.

[154] In 2001, Rekha appeared in Rajkumar Santoshi's feminist drama Lajja, an ensemble piece inspired by a true incident of a woman being raped in Bawanipur two years before.

Rekha was the protagonist of the final chapter, around which the film's inspiration revolves, playing Ramdulari, an oppressed Dalit village woman and social activist who becomes a victim of gangrape.

"[165] In a 2007 article by Daily News and Analysis, critic Deepa Gahlot directed an advice to Rekha: "Please pick movies with care, one more like Bach Ke Rehna Re Baba and Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana and the diva status is under serious threat.

In this superhero feature, the story moves 20 years forward and focuses on the character of Sonia's grandson Krishna (played again by Hrithik Roshan), whom she has brought up single-handedly after the death of her son Rohit, and who turns out to have supernatural powers.

[175][176][177] Critics noted Rekha for having worked hard to perfect her Hindi and acting, and media reporters often discussed how she had transformed herself from a "plump" duckling to a "swan" in the early 1970s.

[184] She took part in the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution committee, but, like with other nominated members, her six-year term concluded amidst criticism for her low attendance as well as minimal participation in the House.

[188][189] Hindustan Times described her physical change and loss of weight as "one of cinema's and perhaps real life's most dramatic transformations," arguing that "Rekha morphed from an overweight, dark ordinary girl into a glamorous and beautiful enigma".