Prior to Dharmendra, screen valor of India was a tragic hero. Dharmendra entered the picture and stripped and was proud of his sexuality, made people stare at his Greek-god physique, and created the impact no actor previously enjoyed. The game was different to the Indian cinemagoers. Cinema had a new religion. It was called Dharam.
Garam, Naram, they were numerous adjectives to Dharam. The epithets more: Greek god, son of the soil, family man, a man who worked with his heart. He fit all of them like a glove. He lived a full life. He was a lover of tomorrowless love. And when he came on with his seeti-maar lines on screen the Indian audience answered with taalis. He did so for six decades. Over 300 films. Many, many hits. And 90 years of ministering to the torture of the Indian moviegoer.
On November 24, Dharmendra bid adieu, two weeks before his 90 th birthday, to his extended family who were his audience.
The dream that Dharmendra actually had concerning his arrival in Mumbai and his success as one of the most popular stars in India is no exception.
The actor was motivated by the screen icon Dilip Kumar to take the role of an actor and this mission was to be achieved by a mere village boy of Nasraali of the Ludhiana district of Punjab, Dharmendra. Shaheed directed by Dilip Kumar was one of the early movies to create an ineffaceable impression on the young Dharmendra.
He eventually received an opportunity to collaborate with his idol, who became his elder brother, in 1966 in Paari (the debut Bengali film of Dharmendra) and its Hindi version Anokha Milan (1972).
When he was little, Dharmendra was born as Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol, and he used to ride on the bicycle around village to see whether he saw his image on the film posters stuck on the walls. He would spend the night with his eyes covered with dreams of becoming big in Bombay.
On one occasion he told the interviewer: I would have dreamed the impossible dream and would wake up and ask the mirror in the morning, Can I become Dilip Kumar?
Another case is Dharmendra who won the talent contest at filmfare magazine and the winners were to be introduced in a new film in 1958. But, fortunately, that intended movie was never released. Two years later he got his large break in the Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere of Arjun Hingorani.
However, he did not endure without difficulties in movies. He would take miles before arriving to the offices of producers and would sometimes live days on chana only. In my younger years I lived in a garage since I did not have a decent place of stay in Mumbai. I had to survive by working at a drilling company where I was earning a salary of 200RS and on the other hand, I took up overtime as a way to generate more money.
All this is difficult to think of because in the 1960s, Dharmendra was doing the role of the common-man in such films as Anpadh, Bandini, Anupama, and Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke, and afterwards, he was playing the role of macho-men in films like Sholay, Dharam Veer, Phool Aur Patthar, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, and Seeta Aur Geeta.
The first major success was 1966 Phool Aur Patthar, in which he stunned viewers by giving them a shirtless scene, a move that both shocked and brought him applause.
One time, Dharmendra told that he was not very aware of what Greek god meant, a title that was impersonated by him decades ago when Hrithik Roshan played the same role.
It has always been me that breaks my image whenever I get on screen. I don’t believe I have an image. I am not very sure about what being a Greek god means, but people would call me so. People have also bestowed a lot of love on me, but I never got high on it. The veteran actor, in other words, has provided me with a good footing through love and I attempt to nurture this love and I hope it never fades away.
Similar to other actors of the 1960s-70s period, as soon as Dharmendra gained popularity due to his massy and He-Man image, his acting became mainly theatrical dialogue-baazi that would attract whistles in the theatres. His aggressive kind of performance made him be known as Garam Dharam. This moniker was used later on by him to open a chain of Restaurants that were named Garam Dharam Dhaba which served Bollywood dishes.
In addition to his appearance and performance, Dharmendra made headlines in the 70s and 80s due to his affair with Hema Malini whom he used to share characters in many movies together, including Sholay, Seeta Aur Geeta and Dream Girl. Dharmendra already had a fiancée Prakash Kaur and already had sons Sunny and Bobby along with daughters Ajeeta and Vijeta. He is said to have converted to Islam in 1980 so that he could marry Hema Malini. They also have two daughters Esha and Ahana. A long time after, Dharmendra dismissed rumours of his conversion.
Dharmendra, the legendary person who influenced Salman Khan to start bodybuilding, had a softer and funny side and showed it under such film-makers as Hrishikesh Mukherjee, especially in the movie Guddi and Chupke Chupke. He was still relevant during the 80s with movies like Naukar Biwi Ka, Ghulami, Insaniyat Ke Dushman and Loha. His stardom had dimmed by mid-1990s when he had a lukewarm performance in Maidan-E-Jung and Return of Jewel Thief.
In 1983 Dharmendra started his production house Dharmendra Vijayta Films when his son Sunny Deol, made his first appearance in Betaab. He introduced his younger son Bobby Deol in Barsaat twelve years later. Sunny Deol, who also went by the name of Sunny Sound Pvt Ltd, also released his son Karan Deol, in 2019 with Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, the title of which was inspired by a popular song with the same theme played by Dharmendra in his 1973 film Blackmail.
During the 1990s, Dharmendra had accepted character roles in movies like Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Life in a… Metro, Apne, and Yamla Pagla Deewana franchise and Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.
Dharmendra was a short-lived politician too, as he was elected BJP member of parliament representing Bikaner, Rajasthan in 2004 and remained in office until 2009. He was jokingly rebuked during his election campaign because he had said he wished to be elected as Dictator Perpetuo to instruct children in simple manners in which democracy demands. Although he was given Padma Bhushan in 2012, he was criticized because he had not attended Parliament.
He came back to the big screen in 2023 in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani where he starred as a wheelchair-bound memory-lapsed man. This is his final screen outing (the war epic Ikkis), which is decided to be launched on December 25. This movie takes him back to the hands of Sriram Raghavan, the director of Johnny Gaddar.
Dharmendra was never shy creating social media posts to advertise his family and speak highly of his son Bobby Deol in Animal and wished his grandson Karan Deol a nice debut. In this year, all his comments on X were on sons Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and his second wife Hema Malini.
Dharmendra was among the select old ages of Bollywood who came forward to voice its concern in the farmers protests nationwide in 2020.
He frequently posted onto Instagram photos of his time of glory, and videos of his old movies citing their love that had never ended. On his Instagram, one can find videos of his farmhouse, where he grows organic food, and keeps cows, in which he compares to his children.
Dharmendra was an Urdu shayar as well, and instead, this interest most likely was kindled by his collaboration with Meena Kumari in managers like Phool Aur Patthar and Kaajal. His desire was to compile his poems in a video.
I would like viewers to appreciate the references in the poems that I share in such a way that everyone would enjoy them. I’m a shayar. I write about the way people feel. It is not possible to appreciate poetry when the author is talking about artificiality. But my shayari is universal, in an interview.
He they went on social media to talk in an intimate way with the fans on X and Instagram, where he would regularly update on his health and spread messages of love and peace.
When social media content is usually managed by teams, Dharmendra was as authentic as real in real life and screen.
What Dharmendra Left Behind: 6 Kids, Rs 335-Crore business And The Heritage
On top of a brilliant movie career, veteran actor Dharmendra dictated a worthy cinema heritage but also left behind a well-maintained and sizeable film family that Bollywood could be proud of.
Dharmendra, or as he is known, the He-Man of Hindi cinema, has a family line consisting of several generations of actors, filmmakers and professionals all of which continue on a portion of his legacy.
Dharmendra was the son of Kewal Krishan Singh Deol who was a school teacher and Satwant Kaur in Nasrali village, Ludhiana district, Punjab.
Dharmendra was born in 1954 when he wedded Prakash Kaur, who was only 19 years old – many years earlier to his film venture. There are four children in the couple, two sons and two daughters.
Sunny Deol is the eldest son, an established actor, director and politician. He is married to Pooja Deol and they have two sons who are actors,karan Deol who is married to Drisha Acharya and Rajveer Deol who is an actor and first appeared in the film Dono.
Bobby Deol, the younger son is an actor and a producer who is married to Tanya Ahuja, an interior designer. They also have two sons of theirs Aryaman Deol and Dharam Deol named after Dharmendra himself.
One of the daughters of this marriage is Vijayta Deol who is mostly out of the limelight and has already got married to Vivek Gill and together they have two children Prerna and Sahil Gill.
Ajeeta Deol is the youngest daughter and stays in California outside the film industry and is married to Dr Kiran Chaudhri. She is the mother of two children known as Dr Nikita Mina and Dr Prianka Chaudhri.
Thus, in 1980, Dharmendra got married to the actress Hema Malini to whom he had worked with in some successful movies, such as Seeta Aur Geeta, Raja Jani, Jugnu and Sholay. Their affair had been immensely controversial and discussed by the whole populace, since Dharmendra was legally married to Prakash Kaur then.
However, with the publicity the marriage of Dharmendra and Hema Malini survived and the two had two daughters together.
Esha Deol, who is an actress, is the eldest daughter and she was previously married to businessman Bharat Takhtani and has two daughters, Radhya and Miraya Takhtani.
Ahana Deol is a classical dancer, an entrepreneur and the wife of Vaibhav Vohra. They also have twin daughters called Astraia and Adea and a son called Darien Vohra.
Hema Malini and her two daughters reside in two different locations in Mumbai but Dharmendra remained mostly with his biological family. Nonetheless, he was on good terms and at significant family events and occasions.
Ajit Singh Deol was the younger brother to Dharmendra and he was also an actor and producer. He is the father of Abhay Deol who played in Dev D and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Shanghai. Abhay has a strong attachment with both Sunny and Bobby Deol to whom he refers to his father as Dharmendra.
The Deol family has survived through grandchildren of Dharmendra and most of them are slowly coming into the limelight.
Sonny Deols sons, Karan Deol and Rajveer Deol, form the third generation in Deol family of Hindi film industry.
The sons of Bobby, Aryaman Deol and Dharam Deol are enrolled in schools which are still undertaking their studies though in the future they are supposed to venture into the entertainment world.
On the Hema Malini side, daughters of Esha Deol are Radhya and Miraya and the children of Ahana Deol – Astraia, Adea and Darien as the youngest members of the Deol family.
A net worth of 335-450 crores of Dharmendra. Dharmendra was an excellent investor in his career of six decades, and was very disciplined. It is believed that when combined, their wealth is worth over 1000 crore, which makes them one of the strongest cinematic families in India.
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