Latest revision as of 16:15, 3 December 2025

[edit] Briefly

Avijit Ghosh, Nov 25, 2025: The Times of India

Whenever Dharmendra snarled, “Kuttey main tera khoon pee jaunga,” bad guys cowered, frontbenchers whistled and box-office queues grew as long as a goods train. But that happened long after his struggle with a series of flops.


Producer-director OP Ralhan’s ‘Phool Aur Patthar (1966)’ made him a star. In the film, he played Shaka, a thief with a conscience. In an iconic scene, a drunk and topless Dharmendra walks up to a scared widow (Meena Kumari) pretending to be asleep. He looks at her, spreads a quilt over her and walks away. 


The scene not only established the character’s innate decency but also underlined his splendid physicality; two attributes that the audience, both male and female, would associate him with in their own ways. Here was an actor whose body men wanted to acquire, and women lie next to.


Born on Dec 8, 1935 in Nasrali village, near Khanna town in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, the school headmaster’s son developed a passion for moving pictures after watching Dilip Kumar's ‘Shaheed’ (1948) in Ludhiana’s Minerva cinema. That obsession persisted even after he was employed as a mechanic in an American drilling company. Mumbai beckoned. In 1958, he finished second in Filmfare-United Producers’ first talent contest. By then, he was married to Prakash Kaur and father of a child, now known as Sunny Deol. 


Dharmendra confessed on Rajat Sharma’s ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ show that during his early years, a renowned producer told him, “I want a hero, not a hockey player.” The actor lived in a rented room over a garage in Versova developing a close friendship with fellow struggler Manoj Kumar. Film journalist Rajiv Vijayakar writes in the actor’s biography that Kumar stopped Dharmendra from leaving Mumbai and going to Delhi where he had landed a job.


Dharmendra got his big break in Arjun Hingorani’s ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere’ (1960) with Kumkum as fellow heroine. More people noticed the kind-hearted doctor who falls in love with a murderer (Nutan) in Bimal Roy’s ‘Bandini’. Over the years, Hingorani and him would form a cosy director-actor team making hits starting with the letter, K — Kab Kyun Kahan and Kahani Kismat Ki to name just two. 
His collaboration with Bengali directors widened his repertoire. Satyen Bose’s ‘Jeewan Mrityu’ and Dulal Guha’s ‘Pratigya’ were megahits. He wasn’t much of a dancer but the brio with which he expressed ardour while mouthing, “Main jat yamla pagla deewana” became the film’s highlight. 


Unlike most stars of the time, Dharmendra was shorn of mannerism. Directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee (‘Anupama’, ‘Satyakam’, ‘Chupke Chupke’) and Basu Chatterji (‘Dillagi’, where he played a BHU-educated Sanskrit teacher), expanded his range, fashioned his bhadralok persona. ‘Satyakam’, a human tragedy, saw his best performance. But forget winning awards, he wasn’t even nominated for one, a fact that despaired him.


With ‘Dreamgirl’ Hema Malini, Dharmendra formed a red hot romantic pair. Even in the ultra-violent ‘Sholay’, the scenes of romantic comedy between the two, are utterly charming. ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, ‘Raja Jani’, ‘Jugnu’, ‘Pratigya’ and ‘Charas’ were some of the major winners they paired with. The real and the reel came together when they got married in 1980.


In the 1980s and the 1990s, the market for soft romances and gentle comedies receded. Consequently, Dharmendra focused more on fists and guns which ensured that his underclass fans remained steadfastly loyal. ‘Ghulami’, ‘Hukumat’, ‘Aag Hi Aag’, ‘Loha’, ‘Insaniyat Ke Dushman’, ‘Watan Ke Rakhwale’, ‘Tahalka’ were superhits of this era. The title of one film summed up his new stock-in-trade: ‘Paap Ko Jalaa Kar Raakh Kar Doonga.’ 


Much of his later career is a collage of forgettable films. Exceptions include Sriram Raghavan’s nuanced neo-noir, ‘Johnny Gaddar’ (2007), Anurag Basu’s take on modern love, ‘Life in a Metro’ (2007), an aging NRI waiting for an elderly girlfriend (Nafisa Ali) and the rollicking action comedy, ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011). Raghavan’s ‘Ikkis’, to be released in Dec, will be his last film.


In 2004, Dharmendra won the Bikaner Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket. Unlike Hema Malini, who seems to relish politics as a three-time MP from Mathura, the Punjab da puttar didn’t. Gossip mags called him ‘Garam Dharam’. But for many, he was a ‘naram dil insaan’ (soft-hearted guy) who helped out struggling artists and technicians, making guest appearances by the dozen. Even his real-life misdemeanours, which includes beating up film journalists once, didn’t change that image.

[edit] Hema Malini and Dharmendra

Mohua.Das, Nov 25, 2025: The Times of India

The first time Hema Malini saw Dharmendra wasn’t on a set lit for romance but during the interval of a K.A. Abbas film premiere. She was still the new, luminous face everyone was talking about. He was already the kind of man who made other men glance twice in the mirror before entering a room. Broad shoulders, movie-star jawline, and the kind of old-school manners that could make you forget what you were about to say. When he laid eyes on her, she overheard him tell Shashi Kapoor in Punjabi, “Kudi badi changi hai” (The girl is quite pretty).


Their first meeting on set came soon after. In 1970, when they were cast together in Tu Haseen Main Jawan, Dharmendra’s interest became impossible to miss. By her own admission, she turned him down more times than she could count and each time he came back, a little more charming, a little more insistent. The pursuit was relentless. Dharmendra had a reputation.


Before Hema entered the frame, Dharmendra’s name had already floated through the gossip columns, mostly with Meena Kumari. In the early phase of his career, he was rumoured to share more than just screen chemistry with the legendary actress. Their closeness became a talking point during a difficult period in Meena Kumari’s personal life. Dharmendra, however, always downplayed it: “I was not in love with Meena Kumari. She was a huge star and I was her fan. If you call the relationship between a fan and a star as love, then consider it as love.” Their first film Phool Aur Patthar turned him into a star. 
But this was different. This was the Dream Girl. Through the ’70s, they became an unbeatable on-screen pair. Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu, Raja Rani, Sholay, Azad… each film added to the idea of Dharam and Hema. The more the rumours of an off-screen romance swirled, the more their on-screen draw seemed to grow and more the gossip pages feasted on it.


For Hema, it wasn’t an easy love story to step into. Her mother, Jaya Chakravarthy, kept a close watch on her — from film sets to public appearances — and Hema never questioned it. Until Dharmendra came along. The otherwise compliant Hema was suddenly ready to fight the world for a man who, in her words, made her happy “I just knew that he made me happy. And all I wanted was happiness,” she said in the biography, Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl. 
In May 1980, the curtain lifted. The two were married away from the flashbulbs without the press getting wind. But it wasn’t the beginning of a fairy-tale domestic life. Dharmendra was already married to Prakash Kaur, with four children Sunny, Bobby, Vijeeta, and Ajeeta. Divorce was not on the cards. But all sides remained tightlipped on how the arrangement was arrived at.


What followed was one of Hindi cinema’s most unconventional marriages. Hema moved into her own home, while Dharmendra stayed with his first family and even now, she lives in the house across the road from him in Juhu. Through it all, she was labelled the “other woman”, yet she stood her ground, faced the scrutiny, and refused to be defined by it. As she put it in an old Lehren interview: “Nobody desires to live apart from their spouse, but sometimes circumstances force such situations, and one has to accept them. I am happy with myself. I have my two children, and I have brought them up very well. Of course, he (Dharmendra) was always there, always. Everywhere.”


With Hema, he would have two more daughters — Esha in 1981 and Ahana in 1985 — and remain deeply involved in their lives. Despite the complexity, it was a blended family that baffled outsiders but somehow found its own balance. 
Though they were paired romantically in 28 films, the Dharam-Hema post-wedding screen story never took off. Razia Sultan (1983), their first release after marriage, underperformed. Scripts for the pair dried up. Individually, they kept working but Bollywood had moved on, pairing these reigning stars with newer faces. The last time they’d been on screen together was that same year.


For Dharam and Hema, the hyphen between their names now belonged more to life than to cinema. Yet the partnership endured. Despite the early drama — from parental disapproval to headlines picking apart their relationship — they stayed together.

[edit] Over the years

Nov 25, 2025: The Times of India

NATURAL PERFORMER, NOT GIVEN TO THEATRICS


Dharmendra had many box-office hits and convincing performances to his credit, but was never considered a great actor. Part of the reason was the effortless nature of his craft. He seldom drew attention for histrionics, eschewing them for an understated and natural manner. His handsome yet vulnerable appearance and laid-back charm deceived critics and viewers into believing that there was no effort in what he did. 


TIME'S MOST HANDSOME


Time magazine named him one of the 10 most handsome men on the planet. A bigdrinking, sporty, outdoorsman, he was the rugged action hero in the big league along with Sunil Dutt. The 60's were otherwise mostly dominated by stars whose appeal had little to do with their built or proportions. 


ACTION HERO OF THE 70’S


As the 70’s ushered in revenge-soaked cinema, he rode the crest with ‘ Mera Gaon Mera Desh ’ , ‘ Jeevan Mrityu ’ , ‘ Pratigya ’ , ‘ Dharamveer ’ , ‘ Sholay ’ and ‘ Yaadon Ki Baraat ’ . His second marriage to Hema Malini stirred a controversy, but the pair had enduring appeal. Comic timing was the secret weapon in his arsenal – his chaste Hindi-spouting character in ‘ Chupke Chupke ’ defined the film; and the “ chakki-pissing ” scene in ‘ Sholay ’ , inspired by the Anthony Quinn-starrer ‘ Secret of Santa Victoria ’ , still draws laughs. 


MOST POPULAR PAIR


Hema Malini and Dharmendra, one of the most popular pairs in Hindi cinema, acted together in 28 films including ‘ Naya Zamana ’ , ‘ Seeta Aur Geeta ’ , ‘ Azaad ’ . In comparison, Raj Kapoor-Nargis were in 16 films and Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore in 12. 


THE TWILIGHT YEARS


He remained a much sought-after star in the 80’s despite the Bachchan mania. But by the second half of the decade, a decline was evident. Barring JP Dutta’s Ghulami and Hathyar, he was mostly reduced to hamming in B-grade revenge dramas. Exceptions such as ‘ Johnny Gaddar ’ and ‘ Life in a Metro ’ came later in the 2000s.

[edit] Poetry

Nov 25, 2025: The Times of India

Underneath the macho persona that defined Dharmendra lay a quieter, sensitive side that surfaced in a few of his performances and even showed up in his writing. The actor who occasionally wrote poetry and lyrics was keen to publish a collection of his work.


The actor knew his image made it hard for people to believe that he wrote poetry. In fact, he had even written a poem to that effect: Ba kalam khud alfaz mere ashar hain/ Nahi aata khud ko bhi yakeen/ Shayad issi liye ki zamane ko bharosa hai/ Dharam shayar ho sakta nahi


(I am unable to believe that those words are mine/ May be that’s why the world believes that Dharam cannot be a poet)
There is a simplicity to his writing, a mix of Hindi and Urdu. “My poetry is the voice of my soul. Every day when I get up, some thoughts and reflections cross my mind. I jot them down. That’s all there is to my creativity,” he said. 


Summing his eventful life and career, Dharmendra said, “Main seena taan ke chala, par gardan mein kabhi akad nahi aye aur paer hamesha dharti pe tike rahe (I walked with my head held high, but I was never arrogant, my feet always remained firmly planted on the ground).” TNN

[edit] Dharmendra made Hrishikesh replace Asha Parekh with Sharmila

Did you know Dharmendra made Hrishikesh Mukherjee replace Asha Parekh with Sharmila Tagore in 'Chupke Chupke'?/ India Times- The Times of India / Jul 27, 2023

Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore starrer 'Chupke Chupke', was released in 1975

However, did you know Sharmila Tagore was not the first choice for the lead role? Yes. When Hrishikesh Mukherjee was thinking about making this film, he had actress Asha Parekh in his mind. He had also promised the actress that whenever he would make a film, he would keep her in the lead role. Although this could not happen allegedly due to Dharmendra's preference for Sharmila Tagore.

According to reports, during the film's production, the 'He-man of Bollywood' enjoyed immense popularity and was considered a superstar. Due to this, despite the strict directorial style, Hrishikesh Mukherjee agreed to Dharmendra's preference and signed the 'Aradhana' actress. As a result, Sharmila Tagore replaced Asha Parekh as the leading lady, and Dharmendra and Sharmila shared the screen.

This incident left Asha Parekh so disappointed that she never forgave the director for not standing by his promise.