Did you know that Savitri asked Gemini Ganesan to accept Rekha as his child? Watch the deleted scene from Mahanati

Who doesn’t know the legendary South actor Gemini Ganesan right? Apart from his films, the actor was known for his controversial personal life, four marriages and children. Did you know that Bollywood actress Rekha is also the daughter of Gemini Ganesan? Yes, Rekha’s mother Pushpavalli was his second wife before marrying Savitri, the legendary beauty from the south, who was made into the biopic Mahanati starring Keerthy Suresh.

In 2018, the makers of Mahanati released a deleted scene, which highlighted Gemini Ganesan’s relationship with actress Pushpavalli and her daughters Rekha and Radha, whom he acknowledged as his own children several years after their birth. This video then went viral because it didn’t make it to Mahanati’s final cut. In the scene, Savitri’s daughter Vijaya insists that she come to the school and tells her schoolmate Rekha that Gemini Ganesan is just her father and not hers. Savitri instead tells Vijaya that their family is a ‘big family’ and that Gemini Ganesan is Rekha’s father. She also convinces him to consider Rekha as his child. In the next scene, Savitri invites Pushpavalli, Rekha and Radha to their home. The scene also highlights Rekha’s uneasy relationship with Gemini as the youngster adores her father’s affections.

Watch the scene of Gemini Ganesan and Rekha from Mahanati

Rekha’s relationship with Gemini Ganesan

In a 2012 conversation with Simi Garewal, when asked what Rekha remembers about her father Gemini, she said, “I was a baby when he left our lives. I can’t even remember when he was home.” She went on to say: “A few times he came to drop other kids so that was my first impression of him, I thought ‘oh this is appa..’ But I never had a chance to meet him. I don’t think even he noticed me there. He never saw me.’

Even when Gemini Ganesan died, Rekha refused to mourn him. She reportedly quoted, “Why should I grieve for him when he is so much mine? Why should I grieve when I’m so grateful for his genes, his teachings, rich life and pure existence? Mourn for what??! “I’m glad I didn’t have to share any unpleasant moments with him. He existed for me in my imagination. And that is so much better than reality. Everything I love is unqualified by worldly time pressures.”

Mahanati is a biographical drama film based on the life of actress Savitri. Written and directed by Nag Ashwin, it also features Dulquer Salmaan as Gemini Ganesan with Samantha, Vijay Deverakonda, Prakash Raj, Naga Chaitanya and Rajendra Prasad in supporting roles.