Rekha appeared as a child actor in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966). Rekha made her debut as heroine in the successful Kannada film Goadalli CID 999 with Dr. Rajkumar in 1969.[3] In that same year, she starred in her first Hindi film, Anjana Safar (later retitled Do Shikari). She later claimed that she was tricked into a kissing scene with the leading actor Biswajit for the overseas market,[4] and the kiss made it to the Asian edition of “Life” magazine.[5] The film ran into censorship problems, and would not be released until a decade later.[6] She had two films released in 1970: the Telugu film Amma Kosam and the Hindi film Sawan Bhadon, which was considered her acting debut in Bollywood. She had to learn Hindi language, as her naturally spoken languages were Tamil. Sawan Bhadon became a hit, and Rekha — a star overnight.[3] She subsequently got several offers but nothing of substance. Her roles were mostly used to be just of a glamour girl. She appeared in several commercially successful films at the time, including Kahani Kismat Ki, Raampur Ka Lakshman and Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye, yet she was not as regarded for her acting abilities.[3]

Rekha has had various unsuccessful relationships with fellow Bollywood stars including Amitabh Bachchan, whom she loved and a lot of people witnessed when on rishi kapoor’s wedding when she walked with a sandoor in her maang.Vinod Mehra and in 1990 she married Delhi-based businessman Mukesh Aggarwal, who committed suicide in 1991. She was rumored to have been married to actor Vinod Mehra in 1973, but in a 2004 television interview with Simi Garewal she denied being married to him calling him a “well-wisher”. Rekha currently lives along with her secretary Farzana in her Bandra home in Mumbai.[15]