He landed on the streets of Mumbai in 1958. He was in a bus full of eager young men, cracking fingers and chewing on their nails. They were contestants of the first ever Filmfare Talent Hunt. His smart looks caught the eye of producer Arjun Hingorani and the rest is a glorious 55 year run called Dharmendra’s career.
Today he’s known as the most handsome man to have walked the soils of showbiz in India. Back in the ’70s Dharmendra was considered one of the best looking men in the world. So much so, put him in a tailored suit and you’d have competition for Sean Connery and Paul Newman.
|
Bollywood Actor Dharmendra |
But Dharmendra’s real feat is more impressive than his looks. He’s survived showbiz and he’s survived superstars. He started his career in 1960 and had to deal with the mercurial rise of Shammi Kapoor. In the ’60s, he had to contend with Rajendra ‘Jubilee’ Kumar as well. Come 1969 he lived and thrived in the shadow of the Rajesh Khanna phenomenon. And just before he could stake claim to the marquee crown in the early ’70s, came the angry young man Amitabh Bachchan. Having said that, despite not carrying favours from the media or the critics, Dharmendra became the industry’s favourite leading man. He earned the epithet of ‘bankable star’ because his films, no matter how loosely crafted, earned the proverbial big bucks. Once a handsome hunk and romantic star, Dharam transformed into an action icon in the ’80s and the ’90s. And they started calling him He-Man.
Dharmendra was married four years before he landed in Mumbai for the Filmfare Talent Hunt in 1958. And he was already the father of Vijeta, after whom his production company Vijayta Films is named. Ajay Singh Deol more popularly known as Sunny Deol was two-year-old at the time too. Since then Dharmendra’s immediate family has grown with Ajeeta and Vijay Singh Deol (Bobby Deol). Not just that, Dharmendra ensured his success gave his entire family from Sanehwal in Punjab a chance at the good life of Mumbai. His father Kewal Kishan, mother Satwant Kaur and his elder sister all moved to Mumbai. Ajit Deol, Dharmendra’s cousin and Abhay Deol’s father, too became Dharam’s associate in showbiz. Dharmendra married Hema Malini in 1980 but did not divorce his first wife Prakash Kaur. Reportedly, he converted to Islam to be able to retain two wives. The Deol family extended with Esha Deol and Ahana Deol, daughters of Hindi cinema’s dream couple; Dharmendra and Hema Malini.
3 Comments
wow wonderfull pictures
ReplyDeletewow wonderfull pictures
ReplyDeleteStrange to think that I used to write through the post with Vijeta for many years (pen pals) when we would have been in our 30's. She lived in India then, before marriage and after marriage, and I met her two times when she came to Leicester (England) to stay with family there. I had no idea how famous she was those days.... I knew that her father was kn the film industry but I knew very little about Bollywood and she didn't want to speak about it. I feel that she and Ajeeta must be very well hidden these days.
ReplyDelete