Over the years, Waheeda Rehman has been acclaimed as one of the finest actresses of all time by several cinema critics, notable performers, and audiences. She made her acting debut in a Hindi film with C.I.D., which was released in 1956. However, the veteran actress had previously amazed everyone in the South Indian film industry before making her debut in Hindi cinema.
In 1955, she made her acting debut in the South with the film Rojulu Maraayi. She has also had the experience of working with some of the biggest superstars of Hindi cinema, like Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Guru Dutt, Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Khanna, etc. However, it was in Reshma Aur Shera that she got the opportunity to work alongside Amitabh Bachchan.
In an episode of The Kapil Sharma Show, Waheeda Rehman shared how she once slapped megastar, Amitabh Bachchan. She revealed that Sunil Dutt chose to put together an all-star cast for his dream film, Reshma Aur Shera. The cast included Vinod Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Waheeda Rehman, Raakhee, Ranjeet, KN Singh, Amrish Puri, Sanjay Dutt, and many other well-known actors.
She added that during one such scene in the film, she had to slap Amitabh Bachchan. She said that while they were preparing for the shot, she jokingly told him that she was going to slap him really hard, so he should better be prepared for it. Further in her hilarious revelation, she said that she had not thought of hitting him very hard, but when the shot happened, she ended up hitting with her full force. She added that she didn’t want to hit him so hard, but out of error, it happened.
Later, she revealed that Amitabh Bachchan didn’t take it personally and appreciated her for her believable acting skills.
On the personal front, Waheeda Rehman married the famous actor Shashi Rekhi, better known by his stage name Kamaljeet, in 1974. The couple has two children, Kashvi Rekhi and Sohail Rekhi. However, her husband, Kamaljeet, died on November 21, 2000, as a result of a cerebral haemorrhage.
