Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Nov 24: The most admired Bollywood actor, Dharmendra (Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol), who was receiving treatment for respiratory complications, passed away at his residence ‘Sunny Villa’ at Juhu in North West Mumbai on Monday. He is survived by wives Prakash Kaur and Hema Malini, sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, daughters Isha and Ahana, and grandchildren.
The ‘He Man’ of the Hindi film industry was recently brought home and was receiving treatment at a special medical arrangement at his residence. He was 89.
His mortal remains were shifted to a crematorium at Vile Parle West for final rights. His wife Hema Malini, his sons Sunny and Bobby, his daughter Esha, and several Bollywood actors reached the crematorium. Many others took to social media to condole his sad demise.
Born at Nasrali in Ludhiana in Punjab, he moved to Mumbai in the 1960s. After performing smaller roles, he made his film debut in 1960 with Arjun Hingorani’s romantic drama Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere. He saw his first commercial success in 1961 with Shola Aur Shabnam and followed it with hits, such as Mohan Kumar’s Anapadh (1962) and Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
His breakthrough came in 1964 when he co-starred alongside Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu in another of Mohan Kumar’s directional venture, Ayee Milan Ki Bela. It went on to become a superhit, and despite playing the antagonist, Dharmendra was noticed by the audience and received a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category.
