Rekha Rana all set to say goodbye to films after Ameena

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Rekha Rana, who made her debut with the award-winning film Tara: The Journey of Love & Passion is now busy following her spiritual goals. In this exclusive interview with CINEBLITZ, REKHA RANA tells Senior journalist JYOTHI VENKATESH that she is planning to quit films after Ameena is released on Eid Day this year.

Describe your journey as an actor till now!

Bollywood has given me lots of love and appreciation. I enjoyed my journey as an actor and as you know I am an alumni of New York Film Academy, and have done many theatre plays including Jis Lahore Nahin Dekhya and Hai Mera Dil, Tamil films Cinema Star (2015) and Tamil Mann (2017), numerous ads, feature films and music videos with T-Series, I also worked with talented actors and theatre personalities like Late Dinesh Thakur, featured in music albums like Jogiya by Aasa Singh and another by Shaheen Khan. I have also received 47 international awards for Tara. I must say that I enjoyed my time being a part of Bollywood and worked hard for this and also enjoyed meeting a lot of people and receiving many accolades. It has been a great journey.

In your upcoming film, you play the title role of “Ameena”. In what way “Ameena” is different from the other roles you have played so far? 

All roles and characters are different, I tried to portray all of my roles with full conviction and Ameena is completely different. In Ameena, I am playing not one but two different characters though it is not a double role. I play a theatre actor called Meena in the film who is also playing Ameena’s character in a stage play and it’s based on a famous play ‘Yahan Ameena Bikti hai’ written by Aftab Husnain.

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In what way are Meena and Ameena different from each other?

Meena is today’s contemporary young girl whereas Ameena is a girl from 1980. Ameena represents a woman who existed 40 years ago. Both the roles are challenging to the core as far as I am, as an actor, and frankly it was tough to switch from one role to the other for the same film

How did you prepare for your parts?

I prepared by rehearsing for 6 months with the entire cast of the play “Yahan Ameena Bikti hai” though I did not get the opportunity to act in the play for the simple reason that producer Kumar Raj had bought the rights of the play to make a film out of the play even before it was staged. The training helped me a lot to play Ameena.

As you say, you played two different parts of Meena and Ameena. Which was more challenging among the two in the film?

I play not one but two different types of girls. One is Meena and another is Ameena. Definitely, I would not at all hesitate to assert that it was the role of Ameena that was more challenging to me as an actor.

How was the experience of working with a versatile actor like Ananth Mahadevan in the film?

I could learn a lot from an actor like Ananth Mahadevan even while I was working with him in the film. Ananthji plays the writer of the play called Aftaab Hasnain in the film. He was very humble and working with him was a joy!

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How was the experience of working with director Kumar Raj?

Kumar Raj is very passionately in love with filmmaking and puts his whole heart in the making of each film that he sets out to make, whether it is Tara or for that matter Ameena. I can never forget the fact that he had given me the platform to showcase my latent talent with not just one but two films- Tara as well as Ameena that too in titular roles. I am yet to see another hard working filmmaker like Kumar Raj.

Is it true that you studied the Bible and became one of Jehovah’s witnesses and dedicated your life to Jehovah, the God of the Bible and his name Jehovah, mentioned more than 7,000 times in the Bible?

Yes, I recognise myself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and not as an actor anymore. Jehovah’s Witnesses came from hundreds of ethnic and language backgrounds, yet we are united by common goals. Above all, we want to honor Jehovah in everything we do. Jehovah is the name of God, the God of the Bible and the Creator of all things. We do our best to imitate Jesus Christ. We regularly spend time helping people learn about God’s Kingdom and how God’s Kingdom can solve all the problems. I now spend time in my door to door ministry and share the message of peace and love.

I read in an article that you participated in a recent convention in Los Angeles?

Yes. I attended the convention in LA and also in Noida, India. Our conventions are spiritual annual gatherings attended by millions of friends and people around the world. The theme for last year’s Convention was “Exercise Patience,”and was aimed to promote the virtues of patience and love. We have a new one coming up and the theme of this year’s convention is “Declare the Good news” and you are most welcome to join us.

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Is it true that you have decided to quit acting after Ameena?

Yes. I have already stopped signing films. I just have one commitment to fulfil from the past and after that I am saying goodbye to the film industry. I might do ads in future.

Why are you quitting? 

People can have a lot of money, name, fame, stardom, but we seem to put a lot of focus on worldly success and material pursuits and never pause to think of God and his will all our life. True joy does not come from being a success or having a lot of money. We continue to chase worldly success but never realise that we are actually chasing the wind because it’s all temporary. Bollywood has been very kind to me, people are great, they loved me, supported me and I really appreciate that and I really love my team and all the people I worked with so far, they all are very precious to me. But I have realised that nothing we do in this life will ever matter unless it’s really about loving God or loving the people he has made.

What do you want to say in the end? 

I have said a lot! Haha but I would like to again say thanks to my director Kumar Raj and the entire team of Kumar Raj productions for everything. I enjoyed working with all of them and now we all are looking forward to the release of “Ameena” on this Eid!