Dharmendra knew Hema Malini was seeing Sanjeev Kumar before him, refused to work together; neither of them attended Haribhai’s funeral

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Hema was at the peak of her popularity at the time, and felt at the back of her mind that Sanjeev might eventually relent on his position. But he didn’t. In fact, he refused to do the film Shaan because Hema was going to be in it. Eventually, neither of them ended up doing the film. They fell for each other while working on the film Seeta Aur Geeta, which also featured Dharmendra. “Dharmendra and Hema Malini were rumoured to be together, but she was actually seriously in love with Sanjeev Kumar at the time. Because the pair was such an on-screen hit, the public assumed they were in love in real life as well,” they said, adding that Sanjeev Kumar was ‘heartbroken’ after the breakup.

Actor Sanjeev Kumar and Hema Malini. Express archive photo

They added that he did the film Trishul on the condition that he doesn’t share the screen with Hema. Director Yash Chopra assured him that they wouldn’t have to share the screen, except for one shot in the end, where they wouldn’t have any interaction. Sanjeev agreed to the terms. Hanif continued, “Their separation affected the film they were doing together at the time, but it also affected a film that Hema wasn’t even a part of. This was Apne Dushman, which had Dharmendra, who refused to face the camera with Sanjeev in the same frame. So, the director had to shoot their scenes separately.” He said that neither Dharmendra nor Hema came to Sanjeev Kumar’s funeral in 1985.

They tied the knot in 1980, when he was already married to his first wife, Prakash Kaur. Controversially, Hema continued to live in her own bungalow while Dharmendra lived with his joint family very close by. In a recent interview, Dharmendra’s youngest son, Bobby Deol, revealed that he is currently living with Prakash Kaur at their family farm in Khandala. Dharmendra and Prakash Kaur had four children, including Bobby, and Dharmendra had two daughters with Hema. In Hema’s biography, Dimple Kapadia said that she never thought Dharmendra would marry Hema.  “You see, I was such a hot-headed person in those days that I’d get all worked up about her problems. I’d tell her things like, ‘This man (Dharmendra) is never going to marry you. You better sit up and do something about it.’ And if she had listened to me…”