Dharmendra Kewal Krishan Deol (born 8 December 1935), known mononymously as Dharmendra, is an Indian actor, producer, and politician who is primarily known for his work in Hindi films. Nicknamed the "He-Man" of Bollywood, Dharmendra is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema and to be among the most handsome Indian actors of all time.[2][3][4][5][6] In 2012, he has received the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, from the Government of India.[7] Dharmendra has worked in more than 200 films in a career spanning over six decades.[8] He is the most successful actor in Hindi cinema, holding the record for the highest number of hit films, surpassing Amitabh, Shahrukh and Dilip Kumar.[9][10] He also holds the record for having highest number of hit films in a single year in Hindi cinema, which was seven consecutive hits in 1987.[11]
Dharmendra's first marriage was to Prakash Kaur at the age of 19 in 1954, before he entered film industry.[29] He had two sons from this marriage, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, both successful film actors; and two daughters, Vijeeta and Ajeeta.
After moving to Bombay and entering films, Dharmendra married Hema Malini, which caused controversy at the time since he was already married. Rumours began to circulate about Dharmendra and Hema Malini converting to Islam for this marriage.[30][31] In 2004, during a political campaign, when the rumours began to circulate again, Dharmendra asserted that he remained a Hindu,[32] the family being Arya Samaji.[33] He and Malini starred together in a number of movies in the early 1970s, including Sholay.[34][35] The couple has two daughters, Esha Deol (an actress, born in 1981) and Ahana Deol (an assistant director, born in 1985). His grandson, Bobby Deol's son, is also named "Dharam", after him.[36]
In 2019, Dharmendra's grandson, Sunny Deol's elder son, Karan Deol, made his debut as an actor with Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, which was directed by Sunny Deol.[37] In 2023, Sunny Deol's younger son, Rajveer Deol, made his debut as an actor with Dono, directed by Avnish R. Barjatya, Sooraj R. Barjatya's son.
Dharmendra has a farmhouse in Lonavala, where he now generally resides. His family resides in Juhu, Mumbai.[38][39][40] In 2023, Dharmendra expressed that Bollywood neglected his family and never appreciated Deol family's contribution to Indian cinema.[41]
The year 1970 was a notable one for Dharmendra as he delivered four major successes and formed a hit pair with Hema Malini.[42] His first release was Satyen Bose's crime dramaJeevan Mrityu. An adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel The Count of Monte Cristo, it proved to be major critical and commercial success, eventually emerging a blockbuster and one of the top earners of 1970.[70] His next two films, Bhappi Sonie's Tum Haseen Main Jawan and Asit Sen's Sharafat, both opposite Malini proved to be superhits at the box office.[58] This was followed by a flop in Ishq Par Zor Nahin alongside Sadhana and a hit in Kab? Kyoon? Aur Kahan? with Babita.[58] His final release of that year was Raj Kapoor's magnum opus Mera Naam Joker (in which he played a supporting role). Although the film was a disaster at the time of release, it attained cult status in later years, with many critics hailing it as one of the best Indian films of all time.[71][72] In 1971, Dharmendra starred in Raj Khosla's action dramaMera Gaon Mera Desh.[73] The film went on to become an All Time Blockbuster and established his image of an action hero.[74] The large success of this film also made the industry shift to action from romantic films.[14] Dharmendra received his second nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category for his performance in Mera Gaon Mera Desh.[75] His flow of successes continued in the following year with another massive blockbuster in Seeta Aur Geeta, a superhit in Raja Jani and a hit film, Samadhi to go with the major grossers.[76] The mass hysteria created by Mera Gaon Mera Desh in 1971, followed by back-to-back hits with Seeta Aur Geeta, Raja Jani and Samadhi in 1972 took Dharmendra to number 1 position among his contemporaries, thus making him a Superstar.[77][56][78][79]
1973 proved to be the best year of his career with many successes.[14] His first release which was A. Bhimsingh's action crime film Loafer emerged a superhit with its songs, including "Aaj Mausam Bada Be-Imaan", "Main Tere Ishq Mein", "Koi Shehri Babu" becoming immensely popular among the masses and making its soundtrack one of the best-selling Hindi film albums of the 1970s.[80][81] This was followed by mystery thrillerJheel Ke Us Paar and action dramaJugnu. While Jheel Ke Us Paar was a hit, the latter proved to be a blockbuster in India as well as Soviet Union, eventually taking 2nd spot at the box office in 1973.[82] Owing to its huge success, Jugnu was also remade in Tamil and Telugu as Guru (1980).[83] His next two releases were - Ravikant Nagaich's spy thriller Keemat and Adurthi Subba Rao's light-hearted drama film Jwaar Bhata.[84][85] Both the films received critical acclaim and emerged moderately successful.[14] Towards the end of the year, Dharmendra appeared in Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Blackmail and Kahani Kismat Ki. Yaadon Ki Baaraat, directed by Nasir Hussain and written by Salim-Javed is widely identified as the first masala film of Indian cinema and proved to be another blockbuster for the actor as well as the second best-selling Bollywood album of the 1970s.[86][14][87] On the other hand, Vijay Anand's romantic thrillerBlackmail was an unsuccessful venture critically and commercially, but reception later improved, with many calling it one of Anand's most underrated works.[88] The song "Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas" filmed on Dharmendra and Raakhee was a chartbuster and remains popular till date.[89] His final release of the year, Arjun Hingorani's actioner Kahani Kismat Ki continued his dream run and emerged a superhit at the box office.[90] The following year, Dharmendra added one more blockbuster in his kitty with Dulal Guha's social drama Dost co-starring Shatrughan Sinha and Hema Malini.[91] The huge box office success of Dost was followed by moderate successes in Patthar Aur Payal and Resham Ki Dori. For his performance in the latter, Dharmendra received his 4th and final nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Actor category.[92]
The 1975 Emergency had angered the public, and this helped films featuring the lead character revolting against corruption and establishment become successes. The shift from romantic and social movies to action-oriented multi-starrers changed the box office. The year saw the rise of another superstar, Amitabh Bachchan, but Dharmendra remained rock-steady and continued to deliver huge hits.[93]
In 1975, Dharmendra appeared alongside Bachchan in two films. The first was Mukherjee's light-hearted comedy Chupke Chupke.[94] It received positive response from critics and went on to become a hit at the box office.[95] The second was Ramesh Sippy's actioner Sholay.[96] It released on 15 August 1975, Indian Independence Day, in Bombay. Due to lackluster reviews and a lack of effective visual marketing tools, it saw poor financial returns in its first two weeks. However, from the third week onward, viewership picked up owing to positive word of mouth.[97] During the initial slow period, the director and writer considered re-shooting some scenes so that Amitabh Bachchan's character would not die. When business picked up, they abandoned this idea.[98] After additionally releasing a soundtrack containing dialogue snippets,[99]Sholay soon became an "overnight sensation".[100] The film was then released in other distribution zones such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, and Hyderabad on 11 October 1975.[101] It became the highest-grossing Hindi language film of 1975, and film ranking website Box Office India has given the film a verdict of All Time Blockbuster.[91]Sholay went on to earn a still-standing record of 60 golden jubilees[a] across India,[100] and was the first film in India to celebrate a silver jubilee[b] at over 100 theatres.[100] It was shown continuously at Bombay's Minerva Theatre for over five years and in Kolkata's Jyoti Cinema for almost two years.[102][103]Sholay was the Indian film with the longest theatrical run until Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) broke its record of 286 weeks in 2001.[104][105]
Before the end of year, he delivered another blockbuster in Pratiggya.[106] The film along with its strong action scenes also had a significant comic track in the form of "slapstick" comedy which led to it being referred as a "masterpiece in comedy".[107][108] In 1976, Dharmendra reunited with Ramanand Sagar for the action thriller Charas. Set against the backdrop of the expulsion of Indian community from Uganda by its dictator Idi Amin in 1972, it opened to bumper response all over the nation and emerged a superhit at the box office.[109] His other release of the year, M. A. Thirumugam's family drama film Maa was thrashed by critics, but still went on to become a success.[110] The year 1977 proved to be a big one for Dharmendra with a mega blockbuster in Manmohan Desai's action dramaDharam Veer, a superhit in another of Desai's masala film Chacha Bhatija, followed by two more successful films in Arjun Hingorani's mystery thrillerKhel Khilari Ka and Pramod Chakravorty's action comedy Dream Girl.[111][112] In the United Kingdom, Dharam Veer had 23 shows in 5 cities. Driven by the success of Rafi's songs, the film took a record initial of £50,000 in the UK, equivalent to ₹438,140 (US$50,001.71).[113] In addition, the film sold 32 million tickets in the Soviet Union.[114]
1978–1997: Continued success, decline and final works as a lead
Post-1977, the quality of Dharmendra's films dropped and so the number of huge grossers, but his initial draw remained intact, owing to which the flow of successes continued till the 1990s.[14] In 1978 and 1979, he had superhits in Azaad co-starring Malini and Kartavya alongside Rekha, respectively.[115][116] His other releases, including Phandebaaz (1978), Dillagi (1978) and Dil Kaa Heera (1979) also performed well commercially.[116]
In 1997, Dharmendra received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. While accepting the award from Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu, he became emotional and remarked that he had never won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor despite having worked in so many successful films and nearly a hundred popular films.[142] Speaking on this occasion Dilip Kumar commented, "Whenever I get to meet with God Almighty, I will set before him my only complaint – why did you not make me as handsome as Dharmendra?".[143]
1998–present: Shift to character roles and recent works
His most successful pairing was with Hema Malini, who went on to become his wife.[42] The couple played together in many films including Tum Haseen Main Jawaan, Sharafat, Naya Zamana, Seeta Aur Geeta, Raja Jani, Jugnu, Dost, Patthar Aur Payal, Sholay, Charas, Maa, Chacha Bhatija and Azaad.[163]
He has worked with various directors, each with a different style of filmmaking.[164] His longest collaboration was with director Arjun Hingorani from 1960 to 1991. Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere was the debut film of Dharmendra as an actor and Arjun's first directorial venture with Dharmendra as the lead hero.[165][166] They worked together in Kab? Kyoon? Aur Kahan?, Kahani Kismat Ki, Khel Khilari Ka, Katilon Ke Kaatil and Kaun Kare Kurbanie where Arjun Hingorani was the producer and the director, and Sultanat and Karishma Kudrat Kaa, produced by Arjun Hingorani. He worked with director Pramod Chakravorty in Naya Zamana, Jugnu, Dream Girl and Azaad. Anil Sharma worked with him in many films including Hukumat, Elaan-E-Jung, Farishtay, Tahalka and Apne.
Works in other languages
In the starting of his film career he worked in the Bengali film Paari (1966) directed by Jagannath Chatterjee. The film also featured Dilip Kumar and Keshto Mukherjee in key roles.[167]
Dharmendra served as a Member of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Bharatiya Janata Party representing Bikaner in Rajasthan from 2004 to 2009. During his election campaign in 2004, he made an offensive remark that he should be elected dictator perpetuo to teach "basic etiquette that democracy requires" for which he was severely criticised.[169] He rarely attended Parliament when the house was in session, preferring to spend time shooting movies or working at his farmhouse, for which he was also widely criticised.[170]
Television
In 2011, Dharmendra replaced Sajid Khan as the male judge of the third series of popular reality show India's Got Talent.[171] On 29 July 2011, the show aired on Colors TV with Dharmendra as the new judge and surpassed the opening ratings of the previous two seasons.[172]
Dharmendra is widely regarded as one of the most influential personalities in Indian cinema.[179][180] He was considered one of the most handsome men in the world during his early career[181] and is widely known as the "He-Man" of Bollywood. In 2022, he was placed in Outlook India's "75 Best Bollywood Actors" list.[182]Rediff.com placed him 10th in its "Top 10 Bollywood Actors of All Time" list.[183]
Dharmendra most notable acting performances include Satyakam with Hrishikesh Mukherjee,[184] and Sholay, which is listed by Indiatimes as one of the "top 25 must see Bollywood films of all time". In 2005, the judges of the 50th annual Filmfare Awards awarded Sholay the special distinction of Filmfare Best Film of 50 years.[185]
When Dilip Kumar was giving the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award to Dharmendra, he commented, "Whenever I get to meet with God Almighty, I will set before him my only complaint—why did you not make me as handsome as Dharmendra?". [186] One of the most successful actors of the 1970s and 1980s, Dharmendra appeared in Box Office India's "Top Actors" list eighteen times from 1968 to 1984 and 1987. He topped the list four times (1972-1975).[56]
Dharmendra holds the record for the highest number of hit films in the career of a bollywood actor, surpassing popular actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, and Dilip Kumar. In addition, he also holds the record for having the highest number of hit films in a single year by a bollywood actor, which was seven consecutive hits in 1987, and this makes him one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian cinema.[9][10][11]
In the mid-seventies, Dharmendra was voted one of the most handsome men in the world.[189]
He received a Special Award for his "contribution in Indian Cinema" at the Kalakar Awards.[citation needed]
He is a recipient of the "Living Legend Award" by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian entertainment industry.[190]
In 2003 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sansui Viewers' Choice Movie Awards.[191]
In 2004, he was honoured for Best Contribution to Indian Cinema.[192]
^ abMathur, Abhimanyu. "Bollywood's most successful actor has 74 hits, more than Shah Rukh, Salman Khan, Amitabh, yet was never called superstar". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 17 January 2025. “Even though this star had more hits than Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, he was never called a ‘superstar’ for a rather academic reason. Dharmendra has the distinction of delivering the most hits as an actor in the Hindi film industry. The actor has a record 74 hits to his name in films where he was either the lead or had a substantial role. Dharmendra has appeared in over 240 films. Of these, 94 have been successful (recovering their investments), and 74 have had the distinction of being called hits. This includes 7 blockbusters, and 13 super hits, notably Sholay, the all-time highest-grosser of Indian cinema.”
^ ab"Did you know Dharmendra gave seven consecutive hits in the year 1987?". The Times of India. 30 January 2024. ISSN0971-8257. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2025. “ Dharmendra, an iconic figure in Bollywood, experienced a golden period in 1987 when 12 films graced the theaters consecutively, marking a zenith in his career. In this year, Dharmendra achieved the feat by delivering seven consecutive hits out of the 12 releases”
^ abKashyap, Archita (27 June 2015). "I am a farmer's son: Dharmendra". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019. I am a Jat. Jats love their land and their farms. I spend most of my time in my farmhouse at Lonavla these days.
^"Dharmendra or "Dilawar Khan?"". Milli Gazette. 30 June 2004. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016. When his political rivals brought the issue to the notice of election authorities and the general public, he denied his conversion to Islam and change of name.
^"Deols don't believe in superstitions". The Times of India. 21 June 2009. Archived from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024. They [Dharmendra and Sunny Deol] said, 'We keep any kind of superstition at bay. Being followers of the Arya Samaj system, we bring in positive energy by doing good deeds for the good of others.'
^Malhotra, Aps (20 March 2014). "Zakhmee (1975)". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024 – via www.thehindu.com.