Hema Malini, Prakash Kaur lived minutes away from each other, never crossed paths: ‘What is the point of torturing someone…’

After her wedding with Dharmendra in 1980, Hema Malini respected his responsibilities towards his first wife Prakash Kaur and their children.

Dharmendra stayed married to Prakash Kaur when he tied the knot with Hema Malini. (Photo: Express Archive)

Dharmendra was just 19 when he married Prakash Kaur in an arranged setup in 1954. At the time, he was far removed from the glamour of cinema—simply a young man from a Punjabi family in Phagwara. His life changed in 1959 when he won the Filmfare Talent Hunt contest, a moment that became his entryway into Mumbai and eventually led to his debut in Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960). Over the next decade, even as his career gained momentum, Dharmendra and Prakash welcomed four children: Sunny Deol (1957), Vijayta (1962), Ajeeta (1966), and Bobby Deol (1969).

In 1970, Dharmendra collaborated with Hema Malini for the first time in Tum Haseen Main Jawaan. Soon after, rumours began circulating that their on-screen chemistry had translated into real-life affection. The two went on to star together in several successful films, including Sharafat (1970), Naya Zamana (1971), Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Jugnu (1973), Dost (1974), and Sholay (1975), among others. By then, talk of a serious relationship had taken over film magazines, with speculation that Dharmendra even accepted the role of Veeru to be close to Hema.

In 1980, amid considerable controversy, Dharmendra and Hema Malini married—despite him being married to Prakash Kaur. The backlash was intense, and for the first and only time, Prakash spoke to the media. She told Stardust, “Dharmendra is not a perfect husband, but he is a wonderful father. Hemaji is very beautiful; any man could be attracted to her.” Following this, she and Hema chose to maintain distance from Hema, despite having met each other on earlier occasions.

Hema, in turn, respected that boundary and never interfered in Dharmendra’s responsibilities toward his first family or his decision to continue living with them. In a 1999 interview with Simi Garewal, the actress explained that she never tried to compete with Prakash or disrupt Dharmendra’s existing home. “You love a person so much, and you get so much love from that person—so how can you torture that person for such petty things?” she said. “I never irritated him or troubled him. I understood his problem. When I give so much, I get so much.”

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Asked whether she felt resentment toward Prakash or the other family, Hema replied, “Not at all. That’s why I’m the happiest person today. What is the point of torturing someone you love?”

She attributed her acceptance to her clear understanding of Dharmendra’s circumstances from the start, choosing to honour the reality rather than resist it. In her biography Hema Malini: The Dream Girl, authored by Ram Kamal Mukherjee, she elaborated, “I didn’t want to disturb anyone. I am happy with whatever Dharamji did for me and my daughters. He played the role of a father, like any father would.” She added, “I have maintained my dignity because I devoted my life to art and culture. Though I have never spoken about Prakash, I respect her a lot. Even my daughters respect Dharamji’s family.”

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Despite living just minutes apart, Hema and Prakash never crossed paths. The only exception came in 2015, when Esha Deol visited Dharmendra’s ailing brother Ajit Singh Deol, to whom she was very close. During that visit, she briefly encountered Prakash and touched her feet. “She blessed me and I walked away,” Esha recalled in the biography.

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