‘Such a person was Dharam Ji’: Hema Malini’s heartfelt tribute at Delhi prayer meet

Hema, who shared 57 years of professional and personal partnership with him, reminded the audience of the enormity of his contribution. “We worked on 45 films together, and more than 25 were super hits… He was passionate about acting. Whatever the role, he would immerse himself deeply into it,” she said, recalling characters from Naya Zamana to Sholay, Chupke Chupke and Seeta Aur Geeta. She also spoke fondly of their family life,“He stood by me every moment… he became a father full of affection to my two daughters… Our five grandchildren, he loved them very much.”

The ceremony also saw the attendance of several political leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of India Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Railways and Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of State Jitendra Singh, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi, Union Minister of Health and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers J P Nadda, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Actor-politicians Ravi Kishan and Kangana Ranaut were among those who had come to pay their respects.

The ceremony marked the second such gathering after what would have been the star’s 90th birthday on December 8. Earlier on November 27, three days after Dharmendra’s passing, the Deol family, including Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Karan Deol, hosted a prayer meeting titled Celebration of Life at the Taj Lands End in Bandra which saw the attendance of people from the Hindi film fraternity.

Filmmaker Anil Sharma, who had worked closely with Dharmendra, remembered him fondly, “I am speechless… I saw and felt his love closely.” Recalling his first encounter with the star as a young assistant, he said, “He looked at me and said, ‘Just work hard… one day you will definitely succeed.’” Sharma described Dharmendra’s humility as his defining trait. “His biggest problem was that he never understood how great he was… he met everyone with love.”

Speaking at the ceremony Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “I have come here today not as the Home Minister, nor as Hema Ji’s parliamentary colleague, but to pay my tribute to him.” He remembered Dharmendra as a patriot beyond the screen. Speaking of films like Aankhen (1968) and Satyakam (1969), he noted, “I felt even then that he was a true patriot, and that he was not just acting.” Shah added, “Dharmendra ji’s departure, is an irreparable loss”