Dharmendra (1936–2025): Bollywood’s enduring icon remembered

Who can ever forget Viru of Sholay tell me? Dharmendra fit the role like a glove and excelled in scenes written just for him. Whether it was trying to romance his lady love Hema Malini by pretending to be God through his light conversations with the very silent Jay, and his masterful drunken scene on the water tank pretending to commit suicie to force Mausi to agree to marry her niece to him. The story goes that Dharmendra wanted to do the role of Thakur assigned later to Sanjeev Kumar. But Ramesh Sippy convinced him by telling him that then he would not get to romance Hema and they were having a torrid affair right then. Dharmendra agreed to play Viru at once.

Just yesterday, in a Kapil Sharma show, when asked who was her favourite crush as a young actress, the white-haired, graceful beauty Waheeda Rehman at once said “Dharmendra.” Some months back, Jaya Bachchan revealed in an interview that while doing Guddi, her debut film in Hindi, where she plays a school girl with a big crush on Dharmendra, the actor, she confessed that in real life too, she had a massive crush on Dharmendra in real life. Dharmendra therefore, undoubtedly, is till today, the handsomest hero in Bollywood cinema since the first time he appeared in films 60 years ago. Most of us who had watched his early films as hero, were also mesmerized by the handsomeness of his looks which few heroes today can hold a candle to.

At the 1997 Filmfare Awards, Dharmendra received his Lifetime Achievement Award from none other than Dilip Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan. The evening saw Dharmendra reminiscing about his humble beginnings, his struggles to make it to Bombay and his decades-long wait for the Black Lady that had always eluded him.

In his winning speech, he said,”I wanted to become an actor like every other youngster. However, I did not reveal it to my family, because when someone expresses their interest of becoming an actor, they are laughed at. I told my mother and closest friends about my dream. I asked my mom to collect some money and send me to Bombay but she was skeptical as I was the eldest son. She told me the job won’t be an easy one.” Speaking on this occasion Dilip Kumar commented, “Whenever I get to meet with God Almighty, I will set before him my only complaint – why did you not make me as handsome as Dharmendra?”

Around a decade ago, journalist-turned-director Ramkamal Mukherjee, who has written a biography of Hema Malini and later, of Sanjay Dutt and asked me if I could find someone. But apart from his durability as an actor and his magic comic timing, besides his second marriage to Hema Malini without having divorced his first wife Prakash, he was a private person and little was known of his private life or rather, everyone, including the media, was more interested in his romantic escapades and his fondness for the bottle and did not probe into his personal life. So, the biography remained an unfulfilled dream.

Born as Dharmendra Kewal Krishna Deol in Nasrali, Ludhiana, he was born to the humble school master who was shocked when he told his father that he wanted to become an actor. The film bug bit him when he first watched Shaheed (1948) starring Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal alongwith Leela Chitnis. He was not interested in academics at all and his mind was made up – he wanted to be an actor like Dilip Kumar. He was barely 13 years old when he would imitate the expressions of actors he saw on screen in front of a mirror. “Mai Dilip Kumar Banna Chahta Hoon,” he would state confidently. He spent his early life in the village of Sahnewal and studied at Government Senior Secondary School at Lalton Kalan , Ludhiana, where his father was the village school headmaster. He did his matriculation in Phagwara in 1952.

If one were to casually read through his posts, one would unfailingly find them expressing his unabashed devotion to Dlip Kumar either remembering Dilip Kumar or expressing his heartfelt gratitude to the legendary actor for the profound impact the senior star had on his life and career. Interestingly, this was not a one-sided admiration. Dilip Kumar too, was said to have a deep fondness for Dharmendra.

I first met Dharmendra on screen probably in his second film, Bandini, directed by Bimal Roy. His portrayal as the jail doctor who falls in love with the prisoner Kalyani (Nutan), who he wants to marry, was a subtle, controlled portrayal of a courageous man and I consider this to be one of his most outstanding performances outside of the comedy-cum- action-cum romantic hero image he built later on. The film offered a glimpse into his potential as a versatile actor which one later witnessed in films like Satyavan and Anupama, both directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Over sixty years, having made his debut in 1960 in Dil Bhi Tera, Hum Bhi Tere which turned out to be a flop, Dharmendra featured, mostly as the leading man, in around 300 films establishing a record of sorts as one of the most durable, accomplished and celebrated actors in the history of Bollywood cinema even before it acquired the acronym of “Bollywood.” By the next decade, in the early Seventies, Dharmendra was one of the most promising and marketable actors in Hindi cinema. He never looked back and when he stepped into character roles, which were very few, he still held his own and the last film we remember seeing him in is Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.

One story doing the rounds is that when Salim Khan, the half of the magic duo of Salim-Javed approached him with the idea of the film Zanzeer, Dharmendra was quite impressed with the script and bought it for a meager sum of Rs.2500. He backed out later on he advise of his friends, colleagues and family which, quite interestingly, dramatically changed the map of Indian cinema’s great hero Amitabh Bachchan.

Among some of his biggest hits one might mention Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Phool Aur Patthar and Aaye Din Bahar Ke , and achieved greater stardom in later years, being dubbed India’s ‘He-Man’ or several of hison-screen roles in Hindi films. He consistently starred in several successful Hindi films from the late-1960s to the 1980s, such as Ankhen , Shikar , Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke , Jeevan Mrityu , Mera Gaon Mera Desh , Seeta Aur Geeta , Raja Jani, Jugnu , Yaadon Ki Baaraat , Dost, Sholay, Pratiggya, Charas, DharamVeer, ChachaBhatija, Ghulami, Hukumat, Aag Hi Aag, Elaan-E-Jung and Tahalka , as well as some of his acclaimed performances, such as Anpadh, Bandini, Haqeeqat, Anupama, Mamta, MajhliDidi, Satyakam, Naya Zamana, Samadhi, Resham Ki Dori , Chupke Chupke , Dillagi , The Burning Train, Ghazab , Do Dishayen and Hathyar . His last film Ikkis, directed by Sriram Raghavan, based on the life of Arun Khetarpal was the final film of his illustrious caree. He passed away before the release of the film.

Following his sad demise in his residence on Monday morning, his last rites were conducted at the Pawan Hans crematorium later the same day in the presence of his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, his grandsons, Hema Malini and her daughter.

Alas! They won’t make them like him anymore.