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With a career as timeless as the golden era of Bollywood, Dharmendra has etched his journey in the reel of our hearts and the legendary actor is celebrating his birthday today. His journey speaks volumes of an era where the ‘He-Man’ of Bollywood took center stage. The actor’s journey began in 1960 when Arjun Hingorani signed him for Dil Bhi Tera, Hum Bhi Tere as the lead, marking his debut as a hero for a meager Rs 51. Widely known as ‘Garam Dharam,’ Dharmendra became a busy star by the late 60s.
With over 300 films to his name, including hits like Phool Aur Patthar, Sholay, Pratigya, Mera Gaon Mera Desh, and Chupke Chupke, he left an everlasting mark on the industry. Despite his prolific career, Dharmendra received only one Filmfare award early in his career for Best Talent, followed by a lifetime achievement award towards the end.
When Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu presented Dharmendra with the lifetime achievement award, the actor didn’t become emotional; instead, he was filled with nostalgia. The actor took a trip down the memory lane and said, “It’s been 37 years since I started working.” Dharmendra shared that each year, he looked forward to receiving an award and would, therefore, prepare for it in advance. However, the award never happened.
The actor said in his speech, “Every year I used to stitch a new suit, find matching ties, hoping I would get an award, but I never got one. Mera silver, golden jubilee sab hua, but I did not get an award. Then after a few years I gave up. I decided that I would attend the function wearing a T-shirt and shorts ya kachcha pahen ke chala jaaunga.”
Dharmendra won a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian cinema in 1997. He continued, “By giving me this award, Filmfare has more than made up for all the trophies I missed out on. In this one trophy I can see 15 awards.”
The Sholay actor shared that he accepted the lifetime achievement award mainly because Dilip Kumar was presenting it to him. He considered it his award, given the admiration he had for Kumar since he first dreamed of becoming an actor. The actor had said, “I can say that I never had that way on how you should take the awards. I never had that shrewd, cunning brain to get it. I don’t want it and I am not interested in that.”
But why didn’t Dharmendra receive any awards? When the actor was asked this question, he had an optimistic answer. “Generally receiving lifetime achievement awards means ‘retirement’. But I won’t sit back. I don’t want to comment on why I did not get an award. But I think I deserved it for Phool aur Patthar, Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Pratigya, Sholay and Naya Zamana among several others,” he said in an interview with PTI.
However, Dharmendra attributed not receiving awards to his constant pursuit of perfection. In a conversation with Rediff, the actor had said, “I have never received an award, however hard I worked. And I’m grateful for that because the constant striving for perfection polished my work. It’s good that I did not get any award.”
The 87-year-old actor was recently seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. His performance was loved by everyone, as he was seen on the screen after a long time.
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