Rekha’s iconic film ‘Umrao Jaan’ is set to re-release in theatres on June 27. It’s considered one of her best works and was directed by Muzaffar Ali. As the film brings back memories with its re-release, here’s recalling what Muzaffar had spoken about Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan which was mentioned in the biography of the actress written by Yasser Usman.‘Umrao Jaan’ had originally released in 1981 and incidentally, it was the same year that saw the release of ‘Silsila’ starring Big B, Rekha and Jaya Bachchan. In her biography called, ‘Rekha: The Untold Story’ by Yasser Usman, the author wrote about what Muzaffar had told him about Bachchan and the actress. In the book, it was written that Muzaffar told Yasser, “Rekha is a very sensitive woman… Amitabh Bachchan used to come and sit on our sets, during the Delhi shooting of Umrao Jaan. That’s a fact. Whenever referring to Amitabh, she always spoke using ‘inko, inhone’, like women do who consider themselves married. I think she considered herself married.”The author further wrote, “Unlike many of Rekha’s and Amitabh’s colleagues in the film industry, Muzaffar Ali was not cagey. He was direct and unequivocal: ‘She is and she was in love with him. He should have definitely given her an identity. Amitabh should have married Rekha.'”‘Silsila’ director Yash Chopra had also spoken about casting this trio for his film and mentioned, “I was always on tenterhooks and scared because it was real life coming into reel life. Jaya is his wife and Rekha is his girlfriend; the same story is going on. Anything could have happened because they are working together.”Bachchan and Rekha never shared screen space post ‘Silsila’.
