When Nargis called Rekha ‘witch’ after her dating rumours with Sanjay Dutt made headlines: ‘she gives signals to men’

Veteran actress Rekha, who ruled the Hindi film industry, won millions of hearts with her charm and acting skills. The actress, who still turns heads with her style and glamour, gave us hits like Silsila, Namak Haaram, Biwi Ho Toh Aisi.

Rekha not only made headlines because of her professional life but also for her personal life including her dating rumours. The actress sparked dating rumours with Sanjay Dutt also during their film Zameen Akash, in 1984. As per the reports, they grew close with each passing day after their film. However, they never spoke about it. But Sanjay Dutt’s mom Nargis once reacted to the controversy and said Rekha used to give signals to men and called her a witch.

As per BollywoodShaadis.com, in 1976, Nargis said, “She (Rekha) used to give such signals to men that she could be easily available. In the eyes of some people, she is nothing less than a witch. Sometimes I think I understand her. I’ve worked with a lot of children with a lot of psychological problems in my time. She’s lost. She needs a strong man.”

There were rumours that Sanjay and Rekha were married to each other, however, the actress denied those baseless rumours in her biography, Yaseer Usman. In 1973, there were reports and rumours suggesting that Rekha has tied the knot with Ghar, and Aurat Aurat Aurat co-star Viod Mehra. When she appeared on Simi Garewal’s show Rendezvous later, the host asked her about the rumours. Simi asked, “In 1973, you married Vinod Mehra.” Rekha replied, “Excuse me? Excuse me?”

Simi further asked, “You got married to him? You didn’t marry him, for two months?” Rekha denied and said, “No. Like I was married to Faruq Abdullah, you mean? No, anybody can say anything. You are asking me?…But I don’t want to (answer), it is not important.” She added, “Vinod Mehra was always a well-wisher, he was always very very close to me.”

For the unversed, there were also rumours that Rekha got married to Vinod Mehra during the early stage of her career. Earlier, as per The Indian Express report,  TV host Tabassum had confirmed that Rekha and Vinod were in love. Tabassum, who was a close friend of Vinod Mehra, had said, “He did most films with her. They grew close, they wanted to get married, but sadly that could never happen. Vinod Mehra ne mohabaat toh sirf ek se ki, Rekha se, but shaadiyaan teen ki thi (Vinod Mehra loved only Rekha, but ended up getting married thrice)” on Tabassum Talkies.