'Why Can't I Marry A Woman?' & Other Times Rekha Unabashedly Spoke Her Mind

Time and again, Rekha has proved to be way ahead of her times.

Veteran actor Rekha is not someone to shy away from speaking her mind.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest; Altered by The Quint)

Veteran actor Rekha may not be making headlines on the daily anymore, but the icon can hardly be forgotten. From her acting caliber and her emotive fashion sense to her captivating interviews, the Utsav actor has always been a force to reckon with.

In a clip from Rendezvous With Simi Garewal that's going viral, Rekha can be seen shrugging Simi's opinion that a woman can only marry a man.

Let's take a look at all the times Rekha spoke her mind unapologetically:

When She Was The Queer Icon We Didn't Know About

An old clip of Rekha has resurfaced, thanks to desi Twitter, and netizens are hailing her for her biting responses. In a 2012 interview for popular talk show, Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Rekha was asked if she was planning to get married again. She responded, "With a man?" to which Garewal shockingly quipped, "Well, not a woman, obviously!" Without missing a beat, Rekha asks, "Why not?"

In another clip from the same interview, Garewal said, "Would love for you to come back again, maybe with your husband." To that, Rekha was seen rolling her eyes and answering, "That word is as alien to me as father."

Netizens are falling in love with the sheer simplicity with which she challenges Garewal's heteronormativity. An absolute queen!

When She Opened Up About The Absence of Her Father In Her Childhood

After coming across the viral clips, I couldn't help but watch the original interviews and while the hour-long conversation was filled with thought-provoking insights and lesser-known discoveries about the sixty-eight-year-old actor, what stood out was how she articulated her relationship with her father.

It must have been difficult to recall instances of childhood, marked by the absence of a man who abandoned her and her mother and went on to marry other women. But throughout the interview, Rekha remained respectful of her father while being transparent about her relationship with him.

When She Joked About Her Rumoured Affair With Amitabh Bachchan

Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan's rumoured relationship in the past has not been a secret. In 2021, when the legendary actor was invited as a guest judge, to the hit music reality show, Indian Idol, she herself joked about falling for married men. The clip went viral as soon as Sony TV posted it on social media, as a promo for their show.

In a segment, host, Jay Bhanushali asks the panel of judges if they have ever heard of a woman so obsessed with a married man. In her classic deadpan humor, she quips, "Mujhse puchiye na (You should ask me)". To this, the crowd erupts in laughter and so do everyone on set. Her ability to make fun of- not only herself but also her past relationship - is what had netizens in splits.