There was a time when Mumbai could truly be called the city of dreams. A young man with stars in his eyes could land up here, find his way into the film industry and, over time, become one of Hindi cinema’s biggest and most beloved stars. Dharmendra, who died on November 24 at the age of 89 in Mumbai, was one of those fortunate ones.
Dharmendra appeared in over 300 films, many of them blockbusters. His films produced chartbusting songs too. His place in Hindi cinema remained unaffected by success or failure. Superstars came and went, and a few achieved unimaginable heights of stardom, but his popularity endured.
He was born Dharminder Singh Deol on December 8, 1935, in Nasrali village in Punjab’s Ludhiana district. The son of a school headmaster, he came under the spell of cinema when he watched the Dilip Kumar starrer Shaheed in 1948. “The images from the film began to haunt him,” Rajiv Vijayakar writes in his biography Dharmendra: Not Just a He-Man. “Nothing else was of any interest.”
Dharmendra arrived in Mumbai with no idea of how to get into films. Not surprisingly, he failed, went back home and took up a job in a drilling company. He did not give up. When he came upon an advertisement for the Filmfare-United Producers Talent Hunt, he returned to Mumbai.
He came second in the contest (the winner was one Suresh Puri, who disappeared). However, Dharmendra’s struggle continued for a while. He nearly left Mumbai again, but was stopped by his friend and fellow aspirant, Manoj Kumar.
By this time, Dharmendra was already married (in 1954) to Prakash Kaur and had a son, Ajay (aka Sunny Deol, born 1957), whom he had left back in the village.
Eventually, in 1960, Arjun Hingorani gave Dharmendra his first role as the second lead in Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere. A grateful Dharmendra went on to star in every film Hingorani made, even some dreadful ones.
The attractive actor was noticed and offered several films, mostly the family dramas and florid love stories that were popular at the time. This was the age of well-fed, fair-skinned Punjabi heroes such as Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Raj, Shammi and Shashi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar and Sunil Dutt. Dharmendra led by miles in the looks and muscular body departments.
Some of his early films did well, some flopped. But he had the instinct for picking films like Bandini (1962) and Haqeeqat (1964) in which he had strong supporting roles.
In Bimal Roy’s Bandini, Dharmendra played a kindly prison doctor who falls for the titular heroine (Nutan) who is serving a life sentence for murder. The role highlighted Dharmendra’s gentle and charming side, which was later lost in a spate of action films.
The film that gave Dharmendra the “He Man” label and pushed him up the stardom ladder was OP Ralhan’s Phool Aur Patthar (1964) opposite Meena Kumari, with whom he formed a successful screen pair (seven films). Dharmendra played Shaaka, a criminal who helps an exploited widow. The scene of Dharmendra taking off his shirt to cover an elderly woman established his image as a rugged but sensitive man.
That he was like this in real life too sealed the image. After he had made his fortune and built a bungalow in the star-studded Mumbai suburb of Juhu, word was that anybody who landed up from his village got food, shelter and a helping hand.
Dharmendra was nominated for Filmfare’s best actor award for Phool Aur Patthar, but lost out to Dev Anand for Guide. It is strange that one of the biggest and most loved stars, who acted in a staggering variety of films and played a poet, union leader, spy, soldier, scientist and don, never won any acting awards. He had to be content with lifetime achievement trophies and a Padma Bhushan.
Phool Aur Patthar was a turning point in Dharmendra’s career. Several action movies, some comedies and artistic dramas followed, among them Mamta (1966), Anupama (1966) and Satyakam (1969). Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Satyakam saw Dharmendra in arguably one of his finest roles, as an idealist who suffers but never compromises on his principles.
Mukherjee captured the gentleness of the face once described as one of the handsomest in the world, and portrayed Dharmendra’s manliness as a symbol of spiritual strength rather than brute physicality.
In the 1970s, Dharmendra withstood Rajesh Khanna’s superstardom and the Amitabh Bachchan phenomenon. Some of his big hits were in this decade – Jeevan Mrityu (1970), Naya Zamana (1971), Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Samadhi (1972), Raja Jani (1972), Yaadon Ke Baraat (1973), Blackmail (1973), Pratiggya, Charas, Sholay and Chupke Chupke (all in 1975), Dharam Veer (1977), Kartavya (1979).
Alongside the macho hero, there emerged a comic side that wasn’t adequately tapped – the street performer Raka who banters with the spirited Geeta in Seeta Aur Geeta; Veeru of Sholay.
Only Dharmendra could have carried off the ridiculous, thigh-baring Roman gladiator costume in Manmohan Desai’s Dharam Veer (1977). Dharmendra’s comic timing was polished to perfection in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Chupke Chupke. He played with wicked relish a botany professor who pretends to be a pure Hindi-speaking driver to rile his brother-in-law.
While he acted with leading heroines over the years, he had something special with Hema Malini. Their pairing in such hits as Raja Jani, Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu, Charas and Sholay was hugely successful.
His most unusual role with her was in Kamal Amrohi’s Razia Sultan (1983), in which he played Yakut, the queen Razia’s loyal Abyssinian slave (in blackface, which would have sparked controversy today).
Their off-screen romance could not be hidden for long despite his efforts to keep his personal life under wraps. Dharmendra’s second marriage with Hema Malini in 1980 created a scandal at the time.
At this point, Dharmendra’s best work was largely behind him. He soldiered on through the 1980s and 1990s in such forgettable revenge dramas as Main Inteqaam Loonga (1982), Jeene Nahin Doonga (1984), Mit Jaayenge Mitanewale (1987), Paap Ko Jalakar Raakh Kar Doonga (1988) and Zulm Ki Hukumat (1992). Mimics had a field day imitating his nostril-flaring growl and corny dialogue, his ineradicable swallowing-of-vowels Punjabi accent, his limited dance steps, his near-comical attempts at weeping.
The saving grace was the films he did with JP Dutta – Ghulami (1985), Batwara (1989), Hathyar (1989) and Kshatriya (1993). In Hathyar, Dharmendra dialled down his charisma to play a ruthless underworld don.
During this phase, he introduced Sunny Deol in Betaab (1983) and his younger son Bobby in Barsaat (1995). Although Dharmendra named his production company after his daughter Vijeta, the Deol women were kept strictly away from the public eye.
A few photographs of Prakash Kaur were published in fanzines, but the two daughters and daughters-in-law were out of bounds for the media. Hema Malini’s daughters Esha and Ahana later pursued careers in films and classical dance, reportedly against their father’s wishes.
By the 2000s, it was clear that Dharmendra was accepting roles either to keep busy or fund his productions. His heart could not have been in films like Meri Jung Ka Elaan (2000), Kaali Ki Saugandh (2000), Jallad No.1 (2000) and Bhooka Sher (2001).
The indifferent years were salvaged by offbeat roles in Life in a Metro (2007) and Johnny Gaddaar (2011). He appeared with his sons in Apne (2007) and Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011). Sriram Raghavan’s Johnny Gaddaar was a fan’s tribute to Dharmendra, who played a seasoned con who is double-crossed by his protege.
Raghavan also cast Dharmendra in his upcoming Ikkis. The war drama is among the actor’s final roles after Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024), as the hero’s supportive grandfather and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023) – in which his kiss with Shabana Azmi was a talking point.
Even as the screen appearances dwindled, Dharmendra coasted along on his popularity to represent the Bharatiya Janata Party from Bikaner in the 2004 general election. Dharmendra rarely attended Parliament, choosing instead to write poetry or tend to his farm.
Over a lengthy career, what people in the film industry admired the most was Dharmendra’s simplicity, warmth, generosity and lack of pretension. And the talent that may have gone unrewarded but not unappreciated.
No star can earn the abiding love of moviegoers for over half a century if he does not reach out to them from the screen and touch their lives in some way. Dharmendra was an undisputed legend.
Also read:
‘Had I not become an actor, I would be driving a tractor in Punjab’: How Dharmendra stayed grounded
When Dharmendra saved a village from dacoits before ‘Sholay’
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