Rekha was called a 'witch' and 'national vamp' after husband Mukesh Aggarwal's death: 'What did I do wrong?'

Rekha is one of the best actresses that Indian cinema has ever seen. From her beauty, style off-screen to memorable characters on-screen, she's considered an icon and how! While professionally, she's seen high after immense struggles, her personal life has been far from smooth. While her link-ups with many of her co-stars was always in public scrutiny, in 1990, she was introduced to Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Aggarwal through mutual friends and the duo tied the knot. For many, it seemed like the classic story of a star finally “settling down” after years in the limelight.

But the marriage turned out very differently. Not long after, tragedy struck as Mukesh died by suicide. The incident cast a long shadow over Rekha, with gossip mills unfairly branding her a “witch” and holding her responsible for his death. Many even called her a 'national vamp'. The actress, however, clarified that the relationship had reached a breaking point for both of them.


Years later, during a conversation on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Rekha was asked if it had been an arranged match. She replied with striking honesty, “It wasn't love, for sure.” She went on to say that Mukesh felt like a “stranger.” That simple admission revealed just how mismatched they had been.

She also shared the difficult emotional turmoil that she went through after he passed away, “The initial shock and then denial… and later on, this intense anger and then you go on this self pity trip… then trying to understand it, in vain… and then, finally, of course, acceptance.”

Rekha elaborated further on the fact that divorce was already on the table before his death. “A stage came in our relationship when both of us decided that our incompatibility was too much to overcome and that we should part as friends. As evident from the divorce papers, the decision was to separate by mutual consent. There was absolutely no reason for anybody to hide the divorce papers from Mukesh since he was party to it,” she explained.


More than a decade later, she once again revisited this chapter in her interview with Simi Garewal, describing it as the period that shaped her most. “It was, as morbid as it sounds, the best thing that ever happened to me because I got a crash course of what people are all about,” she reflected. When asked whether she was aware of what Mukesh was going through, she admitted, “I didn’t realise anything. Before I could say the full name, it was all over.”


When asked about how she dealt with these feelings, Rekha said, “One went through the whole gamut of feelings. The initial shock and then denial that ‘no, this can’t be really happening to me’ and later on, this intense anger and then you go on this self pity trip that ‘what did I do wrong? I never meant to hurt anybody’. Then trying to understand it, in vain, of course, because you never understand it. And then, finally, of course, acceptance.”