Dharmendra married Hema Malini despite being father of four and married to Prakash Kaur; Meena Kumari was ‘crazy in love’ with him
Dharmendra Passes Away at 89: Dharmendra passed away on Monday morning at the age of 89. The veteran actor, born in 1935, made his debut in the movies in 1960 with the film Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere after winning a contest by a film magazine but while Dharmendra was trying to make his name in the movies, his family was praying for his luck back home in Punjab. Long before his debut, Dharmendra married Prakash Kaur when he was only 19, in 1954.
Dharmendra married wife Prakash Kaur at 19
Dharmendra with his wife Prakash Kaur. (Photo: Express Archives)
Dharmendra and Prakash welcomed their first son Ajay Singh Deol aka Sunny Deol in 1957. In the following years, the couple welcomed their daughter Vijayta in 1962. Dharmendra later named his production house Vijayta Films after his daughter. Dharmendra and Prakash welcomed their second daughter Ajeeta in 1966, followed by their youngest son Vijay Singh Deol aka Bobby in 1969. Through all of this, Dharmendra’s star was rising in Bollywood, but his wife Prakash stayed away from the limelight. Prakash, as a dutiful wife, took care of the home and the children.
In an earlier chat on The Great Indian Kapil Show, Bobby shared that while his father never beat him up as a child, his mother was the strict one and straightened them up quite often. By this time, Prakash was also living in Mumbai as Dharmendra was now an established actor in the Hindi film industry. But, in 1966, a storm shook Dharmendra’s domestic life as rumours of his affair with actor Meena Kumari started to dominate the film magazines.
Dharmendra with daughter Vijayta. (Photo: Express Archives)
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Meena Kumari’s passionate love for Dharmendra
While Dharmendra and Meena Kumari stayed mum about this rumoured affair, Nargis, in a letter written after Meena’s death, declared that he was the one she loved “passionately.” Dharmendra and Meena Kumari first worked together in the 1964 film Main Bhi Ladki Hoon and later worked together in films like Kaajal, Purnima, Phool Aur Patthar, Majhli Didi, Chandan Ka Palna, Baharon Ki Manzil among others. After Meena’s death in 1972, Nargis wrote, “If Meena has ever loved anyone passionately, the person is Dharmendra. If Meena ever turned crazy in love for someone, it was Dharmendra.” She called it the “most beautiful” phase of her life. The chapter, however, came to an end even before she passed.
Dharmendra and Meena Kumari worked in many films in the 1960s. (Photo: Express Archives)
Dharmendra-Hema Malini’s filmy love story
In the 1970s, the rumor mill started to churn again as Dharmendra and his co-star Hema Malini fell in love. At this time, Dharmendra married with four children. But their continued association ith each other led many to believe that there was more besides the on-screen work relationship. They first worked together in the 1970 films Sharafat and Tum Haseen Main Jawan, and followed it up with films like Naya Zamana, Seeta Aur Geeta, Raja Jani, Jugnu, Patthar Aur Payal, Pratigya, Sholay among many others.
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On the set of Sholay, it was well known that Dharmendra was head over heels for his co-star, and was leaving no stone unturned in wooing her. She, on the other hand, had just gotten out of a tough relationship with Sanjeev Kumar. Sanjeev’s mother did not want to accept a filmy bahu, and Hema was asked to give up her career if she wanted to marry Sanjeev, and she eventually walked out of that relationship. Talking of their Sholay days, Hema told NDTV, “He was very fond of me as I was of him. We had a lovely relationship because we had worked on so many movies together. We shared so much with each other – sometimes there were problems, sometimes it was happiness. Eventually, friendship led to love, maybe that’s what was reflected on the big screen too, in the film,” she said and added, “It’s natural, isn’t it? A lovely friendship ultimately leads to love and care for each other.”
ALSO READ | Hema Malini was called ‘first lady of second marriages’ when she married Dharmendra, chose to live the way she wanted to: ‘All I wanted was happiness’
Hema Malini and Dharmendra in Jugnu. (Photo: Express Archives)
Hema’s mother Jaya Chakravarthy knew of her daughter’s growing association with Dharmendra and wanted to end it as soon as it started since he was a married man. But, the otherwise docile Hema put her foot down, and turned into a rebel for the man she loved. She shared in her biography Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl, “I just knew that he made me happy. And all I wanted was happiness.” Hema’s family was completely opposed to the idea of her marriage with Dharmendra, and insisted she marry someone else, and thus, Jeetendra entered the picture.
Hema’s parents – Jaya and VS Ramanujam Chakravarthy – arranged for a meeting between Hema and Jeetendra’s parents in 1974. Jeetendra was then dating Shobha Sippy (who later became his wife) and wasn’t particularly interested in marrying Hema. When Dharmendra got wind of this meeting, he and Shobha flew to Chennai to stop the proceedings. In Hema’s biography by Ram Kamal Mukherjee, he quoted her father as saying, “Why don’t you get out of my daughter’s life? You are a married man, you can’t marry my daughter.” Dharmendra fought the family and the proceedings were stopped. Hema came back to working in the movies and much to Dharmendra’s displeasure, she continued to work with Jeetendra.
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Hema Malini was called the ‘first lady of second marriages’
Things came to a halt in 1980 after Hema’s family gave her an ultimatum. She recalled on Simi Garewal’s show, “I called him and I said, ‘You’ll have to marry me now.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’ll marry you.’ So that is how it happened.” In her memoir, Hema shared that she was called the “first lady of second marriages.” “Fingers were pointed. Accusations were flung at us. Nobody said anything in front of me, but I was not a fool. I knew that they discussed me behind my back. It wasn’t easy,” she shared.
Hema Malini and Dharmendra tied the knot in 1980. (Photo: Express Archives)
In the midst of all this, Prakash continued to stay out of the limelight, except for her one interview to Stardust in 1981. She said that all the men in the film industry were having affairs and said that while he wasn’t the best husband, he was the best father. “Why only my husband? Any man would have preferred Hema over me,” she said and asked, “How dare anyone call my husband a womaniser when half the industry is doing the same thing?” She further added, “He may not be the best husband, though he is very good to me, but he is certainly the best father. His children love him a lot. He never neglects them.”
ALSO READ | ‘Dharmendra will never marry you,’ Dimple Kapadia told Hema Malini as she struggled with loneliness in her marriage with ‘arrogant’ Rajesh Khanna
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Dharmendra refuted rumours of converting to Islam
Since Dharmendra had gotten married a second time without divorcing his first wife Prakash, there were rumours that he had converted to Islam as the religion allowed polygamy. The rumours suggested that Dharmendra and Hema Malini had changed their names to Dilawar and Ayesha Bi, and performed a nikaah ceremony in 1979. The two, of course, never spoke about this until 2004, when Dharmendra contested Lok Sabha elections from Bikaner. At the time, Dharmendra refuted the rumours and told Outlook, “This allegation is totally incorrect. I am not the kind of man who will change his religion to suit his interests.” Hema, who was a member of the Rajya Sabha then, said, “There is no truth in these allegations. I have nothing more to say about this.”
Dharmendra and Hema Malini were now married but the two continued to live in separate houses, and Hema continued with her film career, which was quite rare for female film actors of the time. In 1981, when Hema and Dharmendra welcomed their first daughter Esha Deol, the news of the pregnancy was kept under wraps. During an episode of Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, Hema’s friend Neetu Kohli shared that Dharmendra booked a nursing home with 100 rooms for Hema so they could welcome their child in privacy. “When Esha was going to be born, nobody knew that Hema was pregnant so Dharam ji had booked the whole hospital for Esha. It was a nursing home with about 100 rooms. He booked all the 100 rooms for Esha to be born,” she shared.
Dharmendra and Hema Malini with daughters Esha and Ahana Deol. (Photo: Express Archives)
Hema’s rare meeting with Dharmendra’s parents
Hema had been staying away from Dharmendra’s family but on the rare occasion that she met his mother, it was a warm meeting. She recalled in Mukherjee’s book, “Dharamji’s mother Satwant Kaur was warm and kind-hearted. I remember how she came to meet me once at a dubbing studio in Juhu after I had conceived Esha. She hadn’t informed anyone in the house. I touched her feet, and she hugged me and said, ‘Beta, khush raho hamesha (Be happy always).’ I was happy that they were happy with me.” Dharmendra and Hema welcomed their second daughter Ahana in 1985, and all this while Hema lived in a bungalow right opposite Dharamendra, as he continued to live with Prakash and his children from his first wife.
Hema shared that she had met Dharmendra’s father Kewal Kishan Singh Deol on many occasions and he would drop by to her house. “He would drop by and meet my father or brother for chai. Instead of shaking hands he would arm-wrestle them, and after defeating them he would jokingly say, ‘Tum log ghee-makkhan-lassi khao, idli aur sambhar se taqat nahi aati (Have butter, lassi, ghee. Idli and sambhar won’t make you strong).’ My father would join in the laughter. He (Dharmendra’s father) was a very jovial person,” she told Mukherjee.
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Dharmendra called Hema a ‘picture of dignity’
Dharmendra and Hema Malini first worked together in Sharafat. (Photo: Express Archives)
In a 1999 chat with Simi Garewal, Hema said that she accepted Dharmendra’s situation as is, and never bothered him about “petty” things. “You love a person so much, and you get so much love from that person, so how can you torture that person for such petty things? That’s the reason why I never bothered. I never irritated him or tortured him. I wanted the love to continue. Nothing can come between us. I understand his problem. I adjust everything according to him, for which he loves me more. When I give so much, I get so much,” she said. Hema had previously met Prakash during social gatherings but after she married Dharmendra, their paths never crossed, she told Mukherjee, “I didn’t want to disturb anyone. I am happy with whatever Dharamji did for me and my daughters. He played the role of a father, like any father would do. I guess I am happy with that.”
Dharmendra also respected Hema’s dignified attitude as he shared in Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, “You are a picture of dignity. You are non-demanding. You never harmed anyone. He added, “Because I am an extremely emotional person, I can say you have sacrificed a lot to give happiness to everyone around you sometimes at the cost of your own emotions.”
Prakash might not have approved of Dharmendra’s relationship but she accepted his kids. In a biography by Rajiv Vijayakar, ‘Dharmendra: Not Just a He-man’, teh author shared that at one point, Prakash was looking for a suitable rishta for Esha. “However, improbable it may seem to the layman, it is absolutely believable that Dharmendra had once told me, ‘Prakash is also looking for a suitable groom for Esha (Deol),” he wrote.
Prakash Kaur, Dharmendra’s first wife. (Photo: Express Archives)
Esha first met Prakash 2011, when she was 30, and the meeting happened only because Esha wanted to visit Dharmendra’s brother Ajit as he was seriously ill. Esha recalled her meeting with Prakash and shared with Mukherjee, “I touched her feet, she blessed me and I walked away.”
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As Sunny, Bobby, Vijayta and Ajeeta got married, Hema and her daughters never joined in the festivities. Later, when Esha and Ahana got married, none of the other children paid a visit. Abhay Deol, the son of Dharmendra’s son Ajit, was seen at the festivities of both families. A few years ago, when Sunny’s son Karan tied the know, Hema and her daughters were still absent. However, after the success of Sunny’s film Gadar 2, Esha held a special screening for her brother, which was attended by him and Bobby. In fact, she also shared with ETimes that she has been tying rakhi to her brothers ever since she was a kid.
Dharmendra is survived by Prakash and their children Sunny, Bobby, Ajeeta and Vijayta; and Hema Malini and their daughters Esha and Ahana.
