With time, the enigmatic Rekha’s memory seems to be failing her. On Kapil Sharma’s show some months ago, the once-elusive, now over-gregarious Rekha submitted a slammer when she did an imitation of the Goddess of Music, Lata Mangeshkar. Seeing the cheering (or was it jeering?) response, Rekha was encouraged into launching into a shocking anecdote that concluded with Lataji calling Rekha, ‘Mumma Mumma’ in public.
A source very close to Lataji has now come forward, questioning the authenticity and dignity of the anecdote. “First of all, that is not Lata Didi’s language. If she had to call out anyone as a mother—which is impossible—Lata Didi would say Maai or Maa, not Mumma. Secondly, the entire incident was twisted out of all recognizable proportion.”
So what really happened? “Rekhaji, for all her quest for cuteness, had spoken to Lata Didi about the desire to have Lata Didi as her daughter in her next life. Lataji laughed good-naturedly at Rekha’s wish, and that was that. The rest of the story, I am sorry to say, is concocted. Lata Didi never ran to Rekhaji shouting, ‘Mumma Mumma.’ This claim is not only ridiculous, it attacks the supreme dignity of Lataji’s conduct. She never acted over-friendly in her home with those close to her. Where is the question of her behaving so chummily with an actress in public?” the source close to Lataji asks angrily.
In another recent write-up, Rekha claims she wept and wailed when Meena Kumari passed away and had to be fed tranquilisers by actress Nadira to calm her down.
“No such thing happened,” a close kin of Meena Kumari stoutly shuts down the melodramatic claims of the bejewelled diva.
