Happy Birthday Rekha: Rare looks and lesser known facts about the gorgeous actress

Bollywood yesteryear actress Rekha, who has always charmed people with her beauty, turns 61 on 10 October.

Though she has recently not appeared in any Bollywood film, the diva still manages to capture hearts when spotted at any event or award functions.

Rekha, who has been in the film industry since childhood, was born in Chennai to popular Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli.

From her rumoured affair with Amitabh Bachchan to her ugly duckling story, here are few lesser known facts about the actress.

• Due to her dark complexion, she was called the 'ugly duckling' in her initial stage of career. But she shut her haters up when she transformed to a glamorous lady in "Do Anjaane". Later, she became one of the leading actresses in Bollywood and critics credited Rekha for transforming herself from a plump duckling to a beautiful swan.

• Rekha was nominated for Rajya Sabhya and became a member of the Upper House in May 2012.

• Her alleged affair with Amitabh Bachchan is known to all, but few people know that there were rumours of the two tying the knot on the day Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor got married. Rekha arrived at Kapoor's wedding ceremony wearing mangalasutra and sindoor.

• Rekha has been linked to several actors including Raj Babbar, Vinod Mehra, Navin Nischol, Jeetendra, Yash Kohli, Shatrughan Sinha, Sajid Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar.

• She was also in news for her wedding to Vinod Mehra, but she refuted these reports in a chat show with Simi Garewal.

• Rekha was married to industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal but within one year when Rekha was abroad, he committed suicide.

• She has acted in over 180 films in a career spanning over 40 years. In 2010, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Check out the above slideshow for rare looks of Rekha over the years.