O DHARMENDRA, YOU CANNOT DIE!

Cinema and life will not be same without ‘Dharmendra . We lost our ‘Ladla’ star and a wonderful actor .

- HIMANSHU DHULIYA

He was the first actor I followed since my childhood and though a few more actors were added to my list his place and position was sacred and different and shall remain that way. I cannot believe that my childhood idol is no more. His was a career spanning 65 years with more than 300 films and he played the lead role in majority of his films. He was infallible, insuperable human forme, one who cannot die. A few years back he had a small role of a gangster in ‘Jobny Gaddar’ in which he was killed by the villain by a pistol shot ; I did not believe it ! How could the director imagine my Hero to die by a single gunshot?

To call him Handsome would be a mere simplification; he was much more. He appeared genuine, balanced, proportionate in all his performances. His appeal was wide not only among the film going people of North India and UP, Delhi and Punjab in particular, but also among the film makers of all kind. He acted in all the top banners and with all the leading ladies of his time. He must have given the maximum hits in Indian Cinema, it is my opinion, even more than Amitabh Bachhan both in terms of numbers and percentage. It is reported that he was adjudged as one of the most Handsome Men by an International Magazine. When the International film maker Krishna Shah announced to make a film for International audience in India starring foreign and Indian actors most thought that Amitabh Bachhan would be cast , but he chose Dharmendra as the lead actor in ‘Shalimar’. When the Indo-USSR joint venture was made it was Dharmendra cast in ‘Alibaba and 40 thieves’ as Alibaba.