IT FEELS SURREAL THAT ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 'SHOLAY', DHARMENDRA CHOSE TO BID ADIEU TO THE WORLD

For millions of fans, he was the ‘He-Man of Bollywood, a title he rightly earned. But behind that image of power, tall, well-built and rugged masculinity was a soft-spoken boy named Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol from a small village in Punjab. A dreamer who was married to Prakash Kaur at the age of 19 in 1954, Before he entered the film industry, he came to Bombay (now Mumbai) clutching hope. His journey began after he won a talent hunt organised by a film magazine, judged by the legendary Bimal Roy. And just like that, the shy young man from Punjab was on his way to becoming one of Hindi cinema's most loved stars.

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

On Monday, at the age of 89, Dharmendra breathed his last at his residence in Mumbai. The actor would have turned 90 on December 8. However, he was not keeping well for a while and was in and out of the hospital. Later, his family decided to continue his treatment at home.

Dharmendra’ first brush with acting came in ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere’ (1960). However, the first taste of success arrived with Ramesh Saigal’s ‘Shola Aur Shabnam’ (1961), followed by hits like ‘Anpadh’ (1962) and Bimal Roy's ‘Bandini’ (1963), the latter winning the National Award for ‘Best Feature Film’ in Hindi. In ‘Bandini; Dharmendra played a prison doctor with remarkable restraint and sincerity. Soon after, his sensitive portrayal as Ashok in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s ‘Anupama’ (1966), opposite Sharmila Tagore, made audiences fall in love with a new kind of hero: gentle, thoughtful and humane.

Mukherjee, one of Indian cinema’s most compassionate filmmakers, became Dharmendra’ mentor and close collaborator. He saw in him not just good looks or screen presence, but emotional honesty. “All the films I did with Hrishikesh Mukherjee were special,’ Dharmendra would fondly recall years later.