Premium

Rekha loved Amitabh Bachchan, but knew he wouldn’t accept her publicly; decided to marry ‘someone important’: Bina Ramani

Socialite and author Bina Ramani claimed that while Rekha was in love with Amitabh Bachchan, his political career stopped him from acknowledging the relationship.

3 min readChennaiDec 15, 2025 12:01 PM IST

Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha last worked together in Silsila. (Photo: Express Archives)

Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan shared sizzling on-screen chemistry in films like Silsila and several others. The two were also known to be close off screen, and in a recent interaction, designer Bina Ramani, who shared a close friendship with Rekha, recalled how the actress wanted Big B to acknowledge their relationship publicly. Amitabh Bachchan, however, was married to Jaya Bachchan at the time. Bina claimed it was Big B’s political career that stopped him from acknowledging his relationship with Rekha in the public eye.

Bina spoke to ANI and recalled Rekha’s childhood and how the actress was affected by her relationship with her superstar father Gemini Ganesan, as she was born out of wedlock. “Rekha was a very good friend. She was childlike. She is pure. If she has made silly moves in her life, those were out of innocence. She was trapped by her childhood. Between the role of a mother and a father, she must have craved and couldn’t get enough of love. And then at a very young age 13–14, she started working. She didn’t really enjoy the childhood,” she said.

Talking about Amitabh Bachchan and how the actress was enamoured by her male co-star, Bina said, “When I met her whole, her whole life was in encased in Amitabh Bachchan.” When asked if Rekha was totally in love with him, Bina replied, “Yes, she believed belonged to him in spirit. And she believed that he belong to her in spirit. They had a communication. These things can happen.”

When asked about the reason behind Rekha getting married to Mukesh Aggarwal despite being in love with Big B, Bina replied, “I introduced her to Mukesh.” She added, “Amitabh had joined politics, and she had come to visit me in New York. She was going through hard time because Amitabh had now become a public person, and he may have probably said to her that there was no chance of him ever… their alliance must have had to drift…publicly no more. She was keen to marry someone good and important. There was talk about her marrying my brother Gulu, who had a playboy reputation at that time, and he lived life very big. It didn’t fit and she continued staying with me in New York.” Gulu Lalvani is the British businessman who was the founder and chairman of Binatone, a manufacturer of digital cordless phones.

Also read – Bollywood icon got ‘married’ at 13 to man three decades her senior, watched her infant daughter die, converted to Islam after seeing dreams

Rekha married Delhi-based industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal in March 1990. However, their marriage was short-lived. The union lasted for roughly seven months, as Mukesh died by suicide.

Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.