‘There may be million stars but there can be only one ‘He Man’.
“As world says, Not just a He-Man, as he is a lot more than just an actor.
A teacher’s Son from Punjab who dreamt of doing what Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand,
Raj Kapoor did on screen and expecting to own a house in Mumbai has become one
of the most successful actor of Indian cinema. He is among the few actors in
world cinema who have over 100 successful movies as a lead actor.
Born to a school teacher Kewal Kishan Singh Deol and wife
Satwant Kaur on December 8, 1935, Dharmendra hated going to
school like most kids. As a matter of fact, he used to urge his mother not to
send him to school as his father scolded him more than other children.
Veteran actor Dharmendra now has a theme restaurant in New Delhi that
celebrates his films, characters and dialogues. The owners are diehard fans of
Dharmendra and feel that this was the best way to idolise the star. Dialogues
from his various films are scribbled on the walls while the menu is
characterised by his screen names.
The actor has successfully managed to impress audiences in almost all kinds
of genres in those times. Dharmendra is not only loved as an action hero, but
has also been a popular actor with comic and romantic roles. His dialogue, ‘kutte
main tera khoon pi jaunga‘ has become synonymous with his name in
the industry.
It was in the 70s that Dharmendra fell for Hema Malini. The two have worked
in several films together. A testimony of his love for Hema was seen on the
sets of Sholay. According to a report Dharmendra used to
pay Rs 20 to the light-boys to purposely disturb the couple when they would
shoot for the scene where Dharmendra is teaching Hema Malini how to shoot with
a revolver. Apparently, Dharmendra spent Rs 2000 at that time just to keep
hugging Hema.
According to a reports, Dharmendra was keen to play the character of Thakur
Baldev Singh and he was told that Sanjeev Kumar would then play Veeru and get
the girl (to be played by Hema Malini). Finally it was Dharmendra who got to
romance Hema in the film. The report further stated that Hema Malini had no
scenes with Thakur Baldev Singh played by Sanjeev Kumar as she had just turned
down his marriage proposal and didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
Dharmendra was married to Prakash Kaur before he fell in love with
Bollywood’s dream girl Hema Malini. According to a reports, Hema Malini had
initially turned down Dharmendra’s proposal as he was a married man. However,
it seems like love finally won the battle. Being a Hindu, the actor could not
marry Hema and according to a report, he converted to Islam and changed his
name to Dilawar Khan. It seems like the whole marriage was kept a secret affair
and revealed much later.
While Dharmendra has had two marriages, the actor is a father to half a
dozen kids. Dharmendra has four kids from his first wife Prakash Kaur. While
everyone knows that Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol are his children from his first
wife, he also has two daughters, Ajeeta and Vijeta. According to information
his daughters are married and settled in California, USA. These two daughters
seem to have stayed away from all the glitz and glamour of Bollywood. And with
his second marriage to Hema Malini, Dharmendra has two daughters – Esha Deol
and Ahana Deol.
Rest there are a lot more stories about the stars in the Book and I
recommend the youth to have a leap of faith and buy this if you would want to
see how to deal with ups and down when it comes to Bollywood and other
situations in life.
