Why Rekha Did Not Have Courage To Speak With Aruna Irani After REMOVING Her From Mangalsutra Film - EXCLUSIVE

Aruna

Irani, who has been working since childhood in the 1960s, has faced numerous ups and downs in her career. However, the veteran actress has never let these obstacles affect her too much. In a conversation with us, Aruna Irani shared how she directly went to speak with Rekha, who was a friend, after being ousted from the Hindi film Mangalsutra in 1981. After the Umrao Jaan star gave her explanation, the veteran actress never held a grudge against her co-star. She also spoke about her friendship with Rekha and how they had fun on film sets.

Aruna Irani on confronting Rekha after being thrown out of Mangalsutra

The actresses have worked together on films such as Nagin (1976), Jaani Dushman (1979), and Bulandi (2000). Aruna Irani told Zoom about the incident when she was removed from the horror and suspense film Mangalsutra (1981) and had her scenes cut by her good friend Rekha. She recalled how she handled it, “What's there to deal? She was a very good friend of mine. So I asked her that, why did you opt me out of the film Mangalsutra? She said, 'Dekho behen mehne aapko iss liye nikhala hai because the role is very edgy.’”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HSmUELrKRk

Mangalsutra also featured Anant Nag and Prema Narayan in lead roles and was directed by Vijay B. The veteran continued, “I asked her what she meant. I didn't know what the word meant. She said, ‘If you made this role slightly emotional, then I would look like the vamp in the film. That's why I said don't take her. I said you could have called and told me on the phone, why did you do this? She replied, 'Mereko himmat nahin thi behen tereko bolne ki [I didn't have the courage to tell you personally].’”Aruna Irani revealed she never took things to heart and instead forgot about the incident later. She added, “Nothing was ruined in the process for me. It's good that the picture never ran. We've done several films together. We both were Telugu, so we used to talk about others in our native language while on set.”

More about Aruna Irani

Last seen in the Hindi historical film Kesari Veer in 2025, Aruna Irani has won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress twice for the films Pet Pyaar Aur Paap and Beta. In 2012, she was also awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. On TV, she has worked in shows such as Mehndi Tere Naam Ki, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Naaginn, and Bhagyalakshmi in the past two decades.