Hema Malini, Rekha, Vyjayanthimala, Jaya Prada and Sridevi, all of them have worked in South cinema before coming to Bollywood. Rekha is one of those few actresses whose mother was also a successful actress.
Her name was Pushpavalli, who fell in love with South cinema’s superstar Gemini Ganeshan.
However, despite being a mother of two, she was never married and also blessed the world with the acting calibre and grace of Rekha. Know everything about Rekha’s mother, Pushpavalli, in this article.
Pushpavalli became famous with Sita’s role
Pushpavalli became famous by playing the role of Sita in ‘Sampoorna Ramayanam’, a film released in 1936, for which she was paid Rs 300 as a fee. Her biggest hit was the Telugu film ‘Bala Nagamma’ (1942), in which she played an important supporting role. Her 1947 film ‘Miss Malini’, in which she played the lead role. The film received critical acclaim, but failed at the box office.
Pushpavalli’s personal life
Rekha’s mother remained in the headlines throughout her life more for her personal life than for her films. She got married in 1940, but after just six years, her married life turned sour, and she started living separately from her husband. Pushpavalli’s life took a new turn when she got the lead role in the film ‘Miss Malini’ opposite new actor Gemini Ganesan. Pushpavalli fell in love with Ganesan and they got into a relationship, although both were married to someone else.
Gemini Ganesan never gave Pushpavalli the status of his wife, but Rekha’s mother spent her entire life as his lover. Pushpavalli and Ganesan had two daughters. The elder of them is Bollywood actress Rekha, and the younger one is Radha, who got married and settled in America.
Pushpavalli paved the way for Rekha
Rekha’s mother, Pushpavalli, breathed her last in the year 1991. She played supporting roles in most films and appeared in lead roles in select films, but Rekha became a big actress in cinema. Pushpavalli wanted Rekha to work in films, just like her and she first appeared in the Telugu film ‘Rangula Ratnam’ when she was just 12 years old.
At the age of 15, Rekha worked in her first Bollywood film ‘Anjana Safar’, which was later renamed ‘Do Shikari’. Like Pushpavalli, her daughter Rekha’s life was also full of turmoil as her husband, Mukesh Aggarwal, a businessman from Delhi, died in less than a year after their wedding. However, she is a big name in Bollywood and is also receives high regard from the South Industries as well.