New Delhi: Dharmendra is without a doubt the Bollywood's first action hero. His muscular body over his heavy virile voice can itself make villains plead for mercy.
The man had beaten up more villains than any other actor of his time ever did. The famous dialogue “kutte main tera khoon pi jaunga' became synonymous with Dharmendra's character and many comedians still earn livelihood by mimicking it.
He is the real ‘He-man' of Bollywood but there is much more to his personality. Dharmendra is a great father and a romantic husband in his real life.
Dharmendra-Hema is one of the most celebrated couple in entire Bollywood and their story is amazingly unique.
Hema and Dharmendra met on the sets of ‘Tum Haseen Main Jawan' in the year 1970. The on-screen couple was quite popular and gave many hit films including the 1975 blockbuster ‘Sholay.'
By the time of release of ‘Sholay' they were deeply in love. Dharmendra, at that time was already a married man and had two children Sunny and Bobby from his first wife Prakash Kaur.
Dharmendra couldn't resist Hema's charismatic beauty and intriguing features and fell in Love with her. Hema, till that point of time had already turned down two extreme proposals from actors like Sanjeev Kapoor and Jeetendra.
Hema initially turned down Dharmendra's proposal as he was already a married man but after his unconditional love and constant wooing she accepted him in her life. The couple tied the knot in 1980 which was a surprise not only for Bollywood but for the entire nation.
The nuptial was not an easy task as Dharmendra was already married during that time and his wife Prakash Kaur refused to give him divorce.
Dharmendra-Hema's marriage also got into controversy as the couple converted to Islam to get married. Hindu marriage act does not allow the second marriage unless the man is divorced or widower.
There were many obstacles in their marriage other than Dharmendra's first marriage. Hema's father was strictly opposed to the marriage and it was only after his death she agreed to the marriage.
The Nikahnama of the couple stated, "Dilawar Khan Kewal Krishn (44 years) accepted Aisha Bi R. Chakravarty (29 years) as his wife on 21 August 1979 at a mehr of Rs 111,000 in the presence of two legal witnesses," though the authenticity of the Nikahnama could not be verified.
The nikaah was kept as a secret and later the couple also got married in Iyengar style since Hema Malini is an Iyengar.
Hema Malini once stated that the reason behind her being attracted to Dharmendra was his strength and silent attitude like her mother. The ‘Dream Girl' also revealed that actually garam Dharam is quite romantic and still looks at her the way he did when he met her first time.
It was rumoured that while shooting a particular scene in Sholay, Dharmendra lured the light boys with money to disturb the lights on the set. The continuous retakes gave him many chances to hold Hema Malini several times.
Dharmendra is turning 79 today is still young at heart and enjoys the life like a young man does. His love for his wife of 34 years has not dimmed a bit.
His love for his daughter Esha and Ahana have always confided in him which shows he is not only a great husband but a great father too.
Though his sons Abhay and Sunny Deol never accepted their step mother in the family but Dharmendra managed to stay close to them only because of his ability to love.
He might be garam Dharam on screen but he is very sweet and romantic in his real life.
We wish a healthy and prosperous life to him on his birthday.
