Born as Dharmendra Kewal Krishna Deol in Nasrali, Ludhiana, Dharmendra was a village boy in 1948 when he first saw the film Shaheed starring Dilip Kumar, Kamini Kaushal and Leela Chitnis. The young kid who struggled with his studies felt a unique connection with cinema. on the 13th, Dharmendra He knew that he wanted to be among the stars and began to reveal in front of the mirror, “Main Dilip Kumar banna chush (I want to be Dilip Kumar).
“When I saw Dilip Kumar and other actors, I thought where are these beauties from? I must be among them. I belong there.” Dharmendra recalled in a conversation with India TV.
At an early age, the actor expressed his desire to move to Bombay to his mother Satwant Kaur, who quickly silenced him.
“I want to go to Bombay, mother. After I had said this, mother covered her mouth and said, ‘Son, don’t say such things again. Your father will throw you and me both out of the house.’ It disturbed me. But she couldn’t see me feeling better, she said, ‘You look good, they will call you,’ says Asian Paints show. Kehta Haima shared.
As luck would have it, Filmfare had launched its first talent search. Dharmendra had applied for the same. He recalled chanting the Gayatri mantra before sending his photograph and details of his appearance to the Filmfare office. Two months later, he received a reply with an all-expense paid trip to Bombay. It was a dream come true moment for Dharmendra, who was born to Keval Kishan, the headmaster of an ordinary school. His journey as an actor began by winning the Filmfare Talent Hunt in 1958.
Two years later, Dharmendra made his debut with the film Dil Bhi Tera, Hum Bhi Tere. However, it was largely ignored and did not perform well at the box office. In 1961, he appeared in the film Shola Aur Shabnam. The Ramesh Sehgal film proved to be the actor’s first commercial success, followed by Mohan Kumar’s Anpadh (1962), and Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963), which won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Dharmendra said in an interview with India TV, ‘When I started doing a little better in the industry, and got a good salary, I bought my first car, a Fiat. But, my brother Ajith did not accept my choice. He said, ‘Paji you could buy a nice looking car, with an open roof, you are a hero after all.’ I said, ‘We can’t trust this industry. You may not get work tomorrow. If things go south, I’ll at least have this Fiat, which I can turn into a taxi and make a living from.’
However, there was never a dull phase for the actor when it came to bagging roles. With each passing day, his stardom grew bigger and better, eventually earning him titles like ‘Action King’ and ‘He-Man’. In fact, Jaya Bachchan said on Karan Johar’s chat show Koffee With Karan in 2007 that Dharmendra looked like a Greek god. Dharmendra is also said to be the actor who started the trend of going shirtless on screen with his character in Phool Aur Patthar. (1966) and Dharam Veer (1977), among others.
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Dharmendra was considered one of the best looking actors of his time, but his mother didn’t think so. He shared in Har Ghar Kekh Kehta Hai, ‘We were 6 brothers. I had an elder brother Santosh, who passed away at the age of 2. So when I was born, my mother told my father, ‘Babuji, Santosh was so charming, Dharmendra doesn’t look as charming as his brother.
Dharmendra starred in several box-office hits, including Phool Aur Patthar (1966), Mamta (1966), Anupama (1966), and Aye Din Bahar Ke (1966). In 1967, he did the critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful films Dulhan Ek Raat Ki Nutan, Majli Didi and Chandan Ka Palna opposite Meena Kumari with whom he had a close relationship.
In 1968, Dharmendra gave several successful films like Shikhar, Akhena, Izzat, Mere Hamdam Mere Dost. By now, Dharmendra had become a popular face with several hits under his belt. So popular that even the rise of Rajesh Khanna as a superstar in 1969 could not slow down Dharmendra. He and Manoj Kumar were the only two actors who remained unaffected during the Rajesh Khanna era of superstardom.
In fact, in the 1970s, Dharmendra became a superstar with films like Jeevan Mrityu, Tum Haseen Mai Jawan, Sharafat, Kab? Kyu? And where? Two of these films were with Hema Malini, who eventually tied the knot, leading to much controversy and drama in their professional and personal lives.
Tum Haseen Mai Jawan was Hema Malini’s debut film, and her pairing with Dharmendra proved to be a hit. They produced Sita Aur Geeta, Sholay, and The Burning Train among others. While their on-screen couple was a fan favourite, their off-screen relationship created quite a stir. After all, Dharmendra was a married man with four children (including Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol). He married Prakash Kaur at the age of 19 four years before moving to Bombay. Hema Malini’s father was strongly against their marriage. Despite all this, the couple went ahead and tied the knot in 1980.
While he was legally married to Prakash Kaur, his marriage to Hema Malini raised concerns, with many speculating if the actor had converted to Islam. However, in an interview with Oluk in 2004, Dharmendra firmly stated, “This allegation is completely false. I am not a man who converts according to his own interests.”
Dharmendra and Hema Malini welcomed two daughters Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.
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Apart from Hema Malini, many other heroines were also attached to Dharmendra in the industry. Once while talking to India TV, Dharmendra said, ‘Mard hu, mard agar thora chanchal na ho, thoda kilanada na ho, toh prabara mard kahlane ka haq nahi (if you are not naughty, you are not a man).
Talking about his mischievousness, Dharmendra was quite a riot on the sets of the film. He would often mix alcoholic drinks on his roof between shots.
‘I was shooting for Agya. It felt like having a few beers in the afternoon. I mixed beer in the lassi. Moushumi Chatterjee was my co-star in the film, who understood what I was doing. She teased me in her Bengali accent, ‘Dharmendra, what are you drinking?’ I said, ‘Lassi.’ Deliberately she asked, ‘Give me some.’ He knew it had alcohol in it. I ended up laughing and admitted it to him, ‘I am having a beer'”, Dharmendra told AAP Ki Adalat.
Over the years, Dharmendra tried his luck in politics as well. But it was not as successful as his film. Dharmendra became MP from Bikaner constituency on BJP ticket. He served the constituency from 2004 to 2009. The veteran actor called these five years the most difficult period of his life.
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He said, ‘Coming into politics was not my choice. A couple of them asked me to join saying things like ‘there are few good people in politics’. They need people like you.’ It changed my attitude and I created my own bubble where I believed that I was all that was needed in politics. But, it’s not for a sentimental person like me; You must be thick-skinned.”
“Those five years were the hardest time of my life. Only I know everything I did for Bikaner. However, whenever I have done good work for the constituency, someone else will take the credit for it. I never get credit for what I do,’ added the actor.
Dharmendra was also known for performing his own stunts, which included the actor fighting a leopard, working at 19,000 feet above ground level with reduced oxygen, and everything in between.
He told India TV, ‘My duplicate would often get tired so I would do my own stunts. On my first day of shooting, they released four big tigers in front of me and I was in my jeep. Everyone was scared. I was also worried if it would attack my face. Still, I was an actor and I had to do my job.
The actor recalled an incident from another set. “We shot on Khardung La, the highest road in the world. There was very little oxygen, and many of our crew members became ill. Our skin was falling off. We trekked all the way. I was with an actor playing samba. There was no water even though he was sick. I squeezed an apple into his mouth.”
Despite his success, Dharmendra has regrets. One of them gave the script for Zanjeer, which made Amitabh Bachchan an ‘Angry Young Man’.
“I bought the script of Zanjeer from Salim (Khan) for Rs 17,500. At that time I was making a film with Prakash Mehra. He was so excited that he requested to give me the film. i did We had planned to shoot the film soon. But, something went wrong between my cousin and Prakash Mehra, who refused to work with her. In retaliation, my sister made me promise never to work with him. Because of this I had to give up the chain. Amitabh Bachchan is known today because of this film,’ the actor said in Aap Ki Adalat.
Even after 6 decades in the industry, Dharmendra is still acting in movies. He was recently seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and Shahid Kapoor’s Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya.