Dharamander

Dharamendra was voted as one of the top five handsome men in the world in the sixties. He was also known as the ‘he-man’ of Hindi cinema. He was the action hero, he was the romantic hero and one of the top actors of his time until politics came knocking.

Basics on Dharamendra
Dharamendra Kewal Krishen Deol was born on the 8th December 1935 in Punjab, India. He was born into an Arya Samaj Jatt family. His father was Kewal Krishen Deol, a school headmaster and his mother Satwant Kaur Deol, was a Sikh.

He married Prakash Kaur in 1954 and has two sons Sunny and Bobby, both of whom are actors and two daughters Ajeeta and Vijeta. At the time of his marriage he was working with an American Drilling Company.

In 1980 he converted to Islam to marry actress Hema Malini as his first wife refused to grant him divorce. His legal name after changing religion is Delawar Khan. He has two daughters with Hema Malini, Esha and Ahana. His daughter Esha Deol is an actress.

He was also involved with Meena Kumari with whom he worked in Phool Aur Pathar and many other movies.

The Filmfare spot the talent contest proved to be lucky for him as he was discovered and signed up by Arjun Hingorani in the sixties and there was no looking back as he became one of the most prominent faces in Bollywood for five decades, a fact that was recognized in 1997 when he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dharamendra in Politics
He contested from Bikaner, Rajasthan during the 2004 General Elections as part of BJP and was consequently elected Member of Parliament

Dharamendra’s Movies
1960 to 1969  Dharamendra’s debut movie was Arjun Hingorani’s Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere in 1960. Anpad (1962) was about literacy among women and he worked with Mala Sinha and Shashi Kala in the movie.
In Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963), he starred with Nutan and Ashok Kumar as a doctor in a prison. He was cast opposite Meena Kumari in Phool Aur Pather in a negative role but whose goodness is brought out by Meena Kumari.

He worked with Sharmila Tagore in movies like Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Yakeen (1969) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Satyakam (1969). He starred with Mala Sinha and Mehmood in Aankhen (1968) that was a spy movie and became a hit at the box office.

1970 to 1979  He was seen as a circus owner in Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker (1970). He acted with Hema Malini and Sanjeev Kumar in Ramesh Sippy’s Seeta Aur Geeta (1972). He played the role of Shankar in the classic Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).

He worked with another rising star Amitabh Bacchan in the comedy Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Chupke Chupke (1975), as a professor. They came together again in one of the biggest movies of Indian cinema, Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975). He played a criminal Veeru who along with buddy Jai sets out to destroy Gabbar Singh and also falls in love with Basanti, which was played by Hema Malini. Dharamendra appeared with Hema Malini in Dream Girl (1977).

1980 to 1989  Dharmendra and Amitabh Bacchan were seen as brothers in Ram Balram (1980) with Zeenat Aman as his love interest. He and wife Hema Malini were paired onscreen in Razia Sultan (1983), a story about Razia Sultan’s affair with a slave.

The other movies in the eighties were Qayamat (1983), Raaj Tilak (1984), Ghulami (1985), Sultanat (1986), Insaaf Ki Pukaar (1987) and Sikka (1989).

1990 to 1999  The nineties didn’t hold the same charm and he was seen in Kshatriya (1993), Taaqat (1995), Return of Jewel Thief (1996) and Pyaar Kiya Tho Darna Kya (1998).

2000 to 2009  Dharmendra came together with his sons onscreen for the first time in Apne (2007) and the response was good. The same year he was seen as Seshadri in the critically acclaimed Johnny Gaddar. His next movie is Har Pall (2009) which stars Preity Zinta and Shiney Ahuja, in which he plays Zinta’s father.