Rekha was born as Banurekha Ganesan on the 10th October 1954 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. She is the illegitimate daughter of Gemini Ganesan, an outstanding Tamil actor and Pushpavalli, an actress. She has seven sisters and one brother.

Rekha was believed to be in a relationship with actor Amitabh Bacchan who was married. There were speculations that she was married to actor Vinod Mehra in 1973 whom she later divorced. She married Mukesh Aggarwal, a businessman from Delhi in 1990 and he committed suicide a year later. She is currently living in Bandra, Mumbai.

She debuted in Sawan Badhon in 1970. Regular regimen of exercise, yoga, and meditation brought a sudden and significant change in her figure, complexion, and beauty. Dulal Guha’s Do Anjaane (1976) and Maneck Chatterjee’s Ghar , reaffirmed in no equivocal terms that Rekha was here-to-stay. Call it her will or God’s benevolence—by 1980, Rekha had become the most sought heroine of Bollywood. This was the time when, Amitabh-Rekha flicks like Mr. Natwarlal, Muqadar Ka Sikander (1978), Silsila (1982), Khoon-Paseenacarried Houseful banners. And the gossip mill worked overtime with Amitabh and Rekha’s love tales. But alas, not all fairy tale stories reach their logical culminations. Soon the two stars were moving in different orbits. But by this time, both, with twenty films between them, had been catapulted to the super-stardom status.

There was no looking back for Rekha, who kept on mesmerising the ever-hungry Indian audiences, with one riveting performance after another. The role of courtesan played by her, in Muqadaar Ka Sikaander and Umraao Jaan (1987) are masterpieces in a genre, which can only be emulated, but not outdone. In Kamasutra (1996), she again portrayed a seductress, who had spent a lifetime, gratifying the sexual desires of the royals. In between, she gave legendary performances in art films like Utsav (1984), Basera (1981) and Ijaazat (1987) too.

Rekha has acted in over 180 films in a career that has spanned 40 years. Taking part in both Indian mainstream and art cinema, she has achieved commercial success, as well as critical praise for her performances throughout the years.