On November 24 this year, Bollywood’s He-Man Dharmendra breathed his last at his Juhu residence. His demise broke millions of hearts, leaving a massive void in the life of his fans as well as the entire Hindi film industry. But for his family, the pain of the loss was far more. On November 27, just a few days after Dharam Paaji passed away, his sons Bobby Deol and Sunny Deol hosted a prayer meet at the Taj Lands End, Bandra, Mumbai. Stars including Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha joined the Deol family to pay their last respects. Yesterday on December 11, Dharamendra’s wife Hema Malini and daughters Esha Deol and Ahana Deol held a separate prayer meet in Delhi.
Hema Malini and daughters Esha and Ahana Deol at Dharmendra’s prayer meet (Photos: Manoj Verma/ HT)
In heartbreaking videos from Dharamendra’s Delhi prayer meet, Hema Malini broke down remembering her loving husband of 45 years. In one such viral clip, Hema shared, “Dharmendra ji se mera association 57 saal ka hai. Jab main film industry mein aayi, tab se unhi ke saath zyaadatar film karne ka avsar mila. Nearly 45 films, we worked together. Out of that, 25 films or more than that became superhit films. Toh hum dono ko ek hit pair ke roop mein industry bhi pyaar karti thi aur janta ne bhi humein khoob pyaar diya.”
Talking about their beautiful bond and marriage, Hema shared, “Jis shakhs ke saath maine kayi filmon mein pyaar ka abhinay kiya, wahi mere jeevan saathi ban gaye. Humara pyaar sacha tha, toh hum kisi bhi paristithi ka saamna karne ki himmat thi, aur hum dono ne shadi ki. Woh mere liye ek bohot hi samarpit jeevan saathi bane. Woh mere liye prernadayak ek mazboot stambh bankar har shan, har kadam mein mer saath khade rahe. Mere har nirnay mein unki sehmati rahi.” Breaking down, the veteran star went on to add, “Aisa ek pal aayega, jab mujhe bhi ek shokh sabha rakhni hogi, aur woh bhi mere… Dharam ji ke liye. The whole world is mourning his passing away. But for me, it is an inconsolable shock.”
Revealing Dharam Paaji’s unfinished dream, Hema shared, “Dekhte hi dekhte Dharmendra ji ka astitva ka ek aur chhupa hua pehlu saamne aaya, jab woh Urdu ki shayari karne lage. Unki khaas baat yahi thi, koi bhi paristiti ho, woh uske anusaar turant ek sher suna dete the. Yahi unki khoobi thi. Maine bhi kahi baar unse kaha ki aap itna achha likhte hain, toh isse aap ek kitaab ke roop mein prakashit karne chaahiye, aapke bohot chahane waale hain, aur your fans will love it, so you must do it. So he was very serious about it, so he wanted to do it. He was planning everything, but woh kaam adhura reh gaya hai.”
Hosted by Hema, Esha, her ex-husband Bharat Takhtani, Ahana and her husband Vaibhav Vohra, the prayer meet was held at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, Janpath. Bollywood actor and Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta and Home Minister Amit Shah amongst others joined the family to pay their last respects to Dharam Paaji.