Rekha's birthday special: Films in which she essayed double roles
What's the story
A quintessential, timeless beauty who fails to draw many parallels, veteran actor Rekha has headlined some of the most memorable films of Hindi cinema.
Some of her cult classics are Silsila, Umrao Jaan, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, and Khoon Bhari Maang.
Additionally, Rekha has also anchored a couple of movies that demanded her to play dual roles!
On her 69th birthday, let's look at them.
#1
'Dharma'
For the superhit action film Dharma (1973), Rekha collaborated with Pran, Madan Puri, Bindu, Navin Nischol, and Ajit.
Rekha played two characters separated by decades—a mother Asha and her daughter Radha, and shone brightly in both roles.
The film was directed and written by Chand (Khoon Aur Paani).
The success of Dharma spawned a Telugu remake in 1976, titled Na Pere Bhagavan.
#2
'Kali Ghata'
In Ved Rahi's romantic thriller film Kali Ghata, Rekha played Rekha and Rashmi, twin sisters and daughters of Satpal Singh, played by Nazir Hussain.
Several leading actors were also a part of Kali Ghata, such as Shashi Kapoor, Danny Denzongpa, AK Hangal, Aruna Irani, and Jagdeep.
Apart from the performances, it courted appreciation for the soundtrack scored by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, too.
#3
'Agar Tum Na Hote'
A blockbuster success, the 1983 film Agar Tum Na Hote featured Rekha as Purnima, the wife of the male lead Ashok Mehra (Rajesh Khanna) and Radha, her doppelganger and beautiful model who eventually marries him.
Directed by Lekh Tandon (Khuda Kasam), the film enjoyed a terrific run in the cinemas and garnered praise for Rekha, superstar Khanna's performance, and the storyline.
#4
'Madam X'
In the crime action thriller Madam X, Rekha portrayed two diametrically opposite roles.
One character was that of the titular Madam X, a feared don, who is captured by the police. The other role is that of a poor young woman Sonu, Madam X's lookalike, who is sent to Madam X's gang to discover its secrets.
Deepak Shivdasani directed it.
#5
'Geetanjali'
Geetanjali was helmed and produced by Shakti Samanta and it had Rekha share the screen space with Jeetendra, Dalip Tahil, Asrani, and Sushmita Mukherjee.
In this romance drama film that revolved around a fake rape case filed against the lead, Sagar (Jeetendra), Rekha played the dual roles of two sisters: Geeta (married to Sagar) and Anjali.
It is streaming on JioCinema and YouTube.