Happy Birthday Rekha: 10 lesser known facts about legendary actress

Bollywood's timeless beauty Rekha celebrates her 69th birthday on October 10

Rekha was born out of wedlock to South Indian actors Gemini Ganesan and Pushpavalli

Rekha's original name was Bhanurekha Ganesan

Rekha was not interested in acting but due to poor financial state of her family she had to leave school and take up acting

Rekha started her career as a child artiste in the 1966 Telugu film Rangula Ratnam

Rekha made her film debut as a heroine in the 1969 Kannada film Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999

Rekha made her Hindi film debut with Anjana Safar in the same year

On the sets of Anjana Safar, 15-year-old Rekha was forced into a 5-minute long kissing scene by actor Biswajeet Chatterjee and director Raja Nawathe

During her struggling days, Rekha acted in several B and C grade films from the South

In her entire career, Rekha has worked in about 175 films

Rekha was married to businessman Mukesh Aggarwal, but he committed suicide 7 months after their marriage