Esha Deol says dad Dharmendra threw her into tubewell when she was 11: ‘That’s how I learnt to swim’

Esha Deol recalls what happened when she told her father Dharmendra that she had not learned swimming when she was 11.

Mumbai | March 20, 2025 11:24 AM IST

3 min read

Esha Deol recalls how Dharmendra made her learn swimming.

Esha Deol is all set to make her return to the big screen with her Ankahee (2006) director Vikram Bhatt’s new film Tumko Meri Kasam, slated to release in cinemas this Friday on March 21. Esha has often talked about how she always wanted to be an actor, much to her father, legendary actor Dharmendra’s disapproval. She’s always painted him as a tough parent. Recently, Esha revealed how her father made her learn swimming the hard way.

“You want to know how I learnt swimming? This is quite a story. I’d already turned 11 and I still didn’t know how to swim. We were all in our farmhouse and my dad has a tubewell. He said, ‘Abhi tak swimming nahi seekha hai tune?’ (You still haven’t learnt swimming?). So I said, ‘Nahi papa (no, dad).’ (He) picked me up and threw me into the tubewell. And I was like, ‘Papa, papa!’ (gestures struggling to swim). I started floating and I started swimming. That’s how I learnt to swim,” Esha recalled.

In the interview to News18, she also recalled how so many star kids used to enjoy swimming together in the 1980s at Sun-n-Sand Hotel, a 5-star hotel in the Juhu neighbourhood of Mumbai. “It was a packed cool. It was crowded. And all of us used to be there. There was Luv-Kush, Sonakshi, Sonam-Rhea. That time, we were all the same age growing up. So our classes and activities around Juhu were pretty limited and pretty much the same. So that was a lot of fun. And then we’d have cold coffee milkshake and French fries,” added Esha.

Luv, Kush and Sonakshi Sinha are the kids of veteran actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha. Luv Sinha is an actor who last appeared in Anil Sharma’s 2023 blockbuster action film Gadar 2. Sonakshi is also an accomplished actor, who will be next seen in Nikita Roy and The Book of Darkness and Krish Jagarlamudi’s Telugu historical action film Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword Vs Spirit. Sonam and Rhea are the daughters of Anil Kapoor and Sunita Kapoor. Sonam Kapoor was last seen in Blind on JioCinema, whereas Rhea Kapoor is a producer and stylist, who last co-produced Rajesh A Krishnan’s hit heist comedy Crew last year.

(Also Read — Hema Malini tells daughter Esha Deol to not give up on love after divorce: ‘She said romance should never die out)

Esha Deol is the daughter of Dharmendra and Hema Malini. She made her acting debut with Vinay Shukla’s 2002 romantic drama Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe. She appeared in hits like Mani Ratnam’s Yuva (2004), Sanjay Gadhvi’s Dhoom (2004), and Anees Bazmee’s No Entry (2005). She took a step back from acting after marrying Bharat Takhtani in 2012. They have two daughters — Radhya and Miraya. Esha and Bharat went their separate ways last year. Esha will now return to the big screen after 10 years as a lawyer in Tumko Meri Kasam.

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