Bollywood actor Dharmendra dies at 89

Veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra passed away on Monday morning in Mumbai at the age of 89, police sources at the cremation ground confirmed.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

Dharmendra with sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. (Photo: Sunny Deol/ Instagram)

(Sunny Deol/ Instagram)

The veteran actor, who had worked in over 300 films over his storied career, had been ailing for a month.

His last rites were conducted at the Pawan Hans crematorium. Dharmendra would have turned 90 on December 8 this year.

Dharmendra was hospitalised in October for a health checkup after complaining of breathlessness. His team had shared that he was doing well and had chosen to extend his stay at the hospital so that he could undergo proper medical screening.

Earlier this year, he underwent an eye graft surgery (corneal transplantation).

An outsider who came from a village in Punjab and made Hindi cinema his own, he acted in over 300 films which included both mainstream blockbusters and underrated gems.

Dharmendra was among those few actors whose stardom was not impacted by the rise of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan.

As he often said, he received few awards in his career but the massive love of his fans more than made up for it. He balanced Sholay arguably the most iconic Hindi film over decades with a Satyakam; audience will always remember his comic turn in Chupke Chupke. His career spanned decades and generations.

Dharmendra's story is the stuff dreams, and films, are made of. Born Dharmendra Deol, he was born to a school teacher in the Sahnewal village of Ludhiana district, Punjab, in 1935.