Dharamendra Singh Deol was born 8 December 1935 in Punjab, better known as Dharmendra, is an award-winning Indian Bollywood film star who has appeared in more than 200 Hindi films. He has been part of the industry for over 50 years and done some excellent work.
Early life
He was born in village Shanewal Distt. Ludhiana Punjab state to an Hindu Jatt family, Arya Samaji father, Kewal Singh Deol, and Sikh mother, Satwant Kaur Dhanoa.
Personal life
Dharmendra married twice and has maintained both his wives. His first marriage was to Prakash Kaur at the age of 19 in 1954. His second marriage was to the Bollywood actress Hema Malini. The couple are said to have fallen in love on the set of Sholay (1975) although they had made films together before. Dharmendra has gone on record saying he does not believe that the Mumbai film industry is a place suitable for girls. He was unperturbed by his sons Sunny and Bobby joining the industry, but was vocal about his displeasure regarding his daughter Esha's choice of profession.
Political career
He has recently become active in politics. He was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2004 general elections, from Bikaner in Rajasthan, on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. Upon winning elections and becoming a Member of the Indian Parliament, his performance has been abysmal. He has rarely attended the Parliament when the house was in session preferring to spend the time shooting for movies or doing farming at his farm house. He has also not participated in any debates or raised any queries.[2] He along with actor Govinda has come under severe criticism for ignoring their duties as a Member of Parliament.
Film Career
Supporting romantic lead roles in women-oriented films like Anpadh (1962) with Mala Sinha, Bandini (1963) and Soorat Aur Seerat (1962), both with Nutan brought Dharmendra to the fore. He particularly made a strong impact in Bimalda's Bandini with many viewers actually disappointed that Kalyani chooses her lover, Bikash, over the kindly doctor played by Dharmendra. A liaison with Meena Kumari saw the two of them starring together in a series of films.
Other films that Dharmendra made an impact included Aayi Milan ki Bela (1964) and, in particular, Haqeeqat (1964) where he was part of a strong ensemble cast Haqeeqat is arguably the greatest war film made in Hindi cinema.
Phool Aur Patthar (1966), a love story between a criminal and a widow, finally made Dharmendra into a star.
Most of Dharmendra's earlier films were soft romantic films, many of which presented a secularized Hindustani version of Bengali literary stereotypes, starting with Bimal Roy's Bandini and continuing with
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 60s socials - Anupama (1966), Manjhli Didi (1967) and Satyakam (1969). He mainly played the nice, sensitive, romantic, handsome hero in these films. In fact, due to his good looks, he was voted as one of the five most good-looking men in the world in the 1960s.
Satyakam saw Dharmendra giving perhaps his greatest ever performance as an idealist seeing his dreams crumble after Indian Independence. It was a sensitive, nuanced performance of an honest, committed man who perseveres with his philosophy of total truth even when it brings about his downfall and one that was straight from the heart.
With the emergence of the angry young man and a shift towards action films, the 1970s saw Dharmendra take to the action genre like a fish to water. (The seeds of this were seen earlier in films like Aankhen (1968) , James Bond style thriller following the success of Phool Aur Patthar) He was prefect as the pistol packing hero threatening the villain - No one could tell the villain, "Kaminey, Main Tera Khoon Pee Jaoonga! " more convincingly than 'Garam Dharam!' Films like Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), Jugnu (1973), Kahani Kismet Ki (1973), Yaadon ki Baraat (1973) and Sholay (1975) swept the box-office largely due to Dharmendra's brawn show!
Sholay and Chupke Chupke (1975) revealed another facet of Dharmendra - his brilliant sense of comic timing and flair for comedy.
Dharmendra also formed a hugely successful pairing with Hema Malini, the two of them doing a string of hit films together - Naya Zamana (1971), Raja Jani (1972), Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Jugnu, Dost (1974) and Sholay among others. They fell in love and Hema became his second wife. Dharmendra and Hema went on to have children as well but so strong was her morally upright image that she was able to go through the marriage without being slandered by press or public which in fact more than accepted the union.
The 'Garam Dharam' act was perfected in the 1980s by Hindi filmmakers as Dharmendra was cast as the invincible hero bearing colloquial names like Veeru Dada, Hathoda Singh or Sherdil who was locked in mortal combat with the villain. But his films, were largely undistinguished and of poor quality even if a couple did score at the box-office. ( Aag hi Aag (1987), Hukumat (1987))
In fact, among Dharmendra's later films in the 1980s and 90s, qualitatively his work with director JP Dutta stands out - Ghulami (1985), Yateem (1988), Batwara (1989), Hathyar (1989) and Kshatriya(1992). The films barring Hathyar were mainly set in feudal Rajasthan featuring conflicts among the Jats and the Thakur Zamindars with Dharmendra usually playing a powerful charismatic leader who unites the people against the oppressive thakurs. His roles were better fleshed out in these films and needless to say, Dharmendra too made a solid impact in them.
After a series of terrible B grade and C grade films thoughout the 1990s, Dharmendra has been seen in better films recently. He was particularly effective in Johnny Gaddaar (2007) as the elderly head of the group, in Apne (2007), where he co-starred with sons Sunny and Bobby and Metro.
Awards and recognitions
Dharmendra was unfortunately was never bestowed upon with Film Awards for his acting, despite giving some great performances in films like Sholay, Chupke Chupke, and many more.
Then between years 1997 to 2008, he was given many a Lifetime Achievement Awards at various awards ceremonies.
In 1997, Dharmendra won a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema over many years. While receiving the award from Dilip Kumar and his wife Sayra Banu, Dharmendra grew emotional and remarked that he never received any Filmfare award in the "Best Actor" category despite having worked in so many successful films – nearly a hundred popular movies. He was glad that his contributions had finally been recognized.
In the mid seventies, he was voted as one of the most handsome men in the world, a feat only repeated by Salman Khan (from Bollywood) in 1997.He is a recipient of the prestigious Living Legend Award by the
Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian
entertainment industry.
