Bollywood's charismatic beauty Rekha turned 58 on Wednesday.  The actress, who captivated the hearts of millions of her fans over the decades, has acted in more than 180 films in her career that spanned over 40 years.

Born Oct 10, 1954, Bhanurekha Ganesan started her career with screen-name Rekha in 1966 as a child actress in the Telugu movie Rangula Ratnam, though her film debut as a lead happened four years later with Hindi movie Sawan Bhadon (1970).

Throughout her career, she has often played strong female characters and, apart from mainstream cinema, appeared in Arthouse films, known in India as parallel cinema.

She has won three Filmfare Awards, two for Best Actress and one for best supporting actress, for her roles in Khubsoorat (1980), Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), respectively.

Her portrayal of a classical courtesan in Umrao Jaan (1981) won her the national film award for best actress.

Rekha added one more feathers to her glorious career this year when she took oath as Rajya Sabha MP.

Rekha made her first appearance in the Parliament during the Budget session as she took oath as a Rajya Sabha member on May 15.

The voting for the Vice-Presidential election this year was the first time when she exercised their ballots as MP of the upper house of the Indian Parliament.

Former Indian President Pratibha Patil had approved the names of Rekha and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar for nominated seats in the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.