The tinsel town was dominated by Raj Kapur, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. And we were sort of tired of same type of acting and same faces again and agan. For a change we had Rajendra Kumar, who was copying same sort of acting. Suddenly on the horizon came a he man, who caught our attention and fancy. In Ayee Milan Bela we had our he man hero, Dharmendra. He was at once a stud, full of energy and virile. He was replete with manly beauty and his fighting skills, unmatched. We were at once charmed by his beauty and strength. Manly beauty got new dimension in Dharmendra, we just wondered that a man can be handsome and at the same time so powerful. In ‘Ayee Milanki Bela’ Dharmendra played somewhat villainous role. But he was so charming in that even that we fell in love with him. If that was our case, imagine what would happen with young girls. Like famous Guddi many young damsels fell in love with him. But those were days of restraint so his temples, like SRK or Abhitabha were not built. But Dharmendra is real deserving candidate for that honor, I feel.
Then came in his career a period in which he was Satyawadi. He portrayed characters in which he loved truth and nothing but truth. Frankly speaking we did not such roles but there was no go. His love affair with Meena Kumari was much talked of gossip in the tinsel town. Phool Aur Pathar became at once popular due to it, in which Meena acted against him. At about that time it was advent of Hema Malini, the ‘Swapan Sundari.’ She was the most beautiful star of Hindi pictures and bursting with youth. No wonder Dharmendra’s eyes fell on her. Their romance became a subject of tinsel town gossip and every tabloid made used of it to the hilt. We were not knowing Dharmendra was already married till then. Dharmendra was married and he got three sons from his first wife. In spite of the fact Dharmendra decided to marry Dream Girl, Hema Malini, the heart throb of millions. It is most fruitful union is proved by the fact Hema gave birth to two girls of exceptional beauty.
But Dharmendra’s drinking habit got better of him by the day. I like his acting in Pratigya in which film he became cop. Then his stunt in Sholay is famous. In Sholay, ‘Laga gaya nishana’ scene is most enjoying, I think. He played some of the best comic roles, especially Pyare Mohan’s role in which he outwitted even veteran actor like Om Prakash. Dharmendra has given singular joy as an actor to our generation. He has also proved as family man and a patriot. We wish him long life and good health in his remaining years. He may not be as talented as Abhitabh Bachan or as tech savvy but as a man he has proved his metal. Long Live Dharmendra.