7 lesser-known facts about Bollywood's He-Man, Dharmendra

Dharmendra

The living legend of Bollywood and our desi ‘He-Man', Dharmendra is celebrating his 89th birthday on Sunday, December 8. The veteran actor, who began his acting career with ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere' in 1960, has acted in more than 300 movies. The Padma Bhushan awardee who has delivered blockbuster hits like ‘Sholay', ‘Chupke Chupke', ‘Haqeeqat', ‘Guddi', ‘The Burning Train', ‘Dharam Veer' and so on… Dharmendra still has a strong prominence in Bollywood. The action hero and a handsome hunk from the good ol' days of Bollywood, the self-made superstar has been an inspiration for various actors. On the occasion of Dharam paaji's 89th birthday, let's unravel some lesser-known facts about the greatest actor of all time.

Hated going to school

It is believed when Dharam paaji was a kid, he hated going to school and he used to request his mother not to send him to school. While his father was a school teacher, little Dharam hated going to the school because his father used to scold him more than the other children.

The big dream

A born superstar, Dharmendra always dreamed of becoming an actor. His mother who always supported his dreams, used to suggest that he should write a letter requesting to act in films, and his mother's idea somehow worked! Young Dharam sent an application to Filmfare's new talent hunt with his pictures. While Dharmendra bagged the prestigious National New Talent award, being the award winner, the actor was promised that he will get to work in a movie and hence he was called from Punjab to Mumbai, but unfortunately, the movie was never made.

The funny story behind hugging Hema Malini

Dharmendra and Hema Malini, the all-time hit Jodi of Bollywood have reportedly acted together in 28 films. The duo first met on the sets of ‘Tum Haseen Main Jawan' in 1970 and eventually fell in love. As per a report on IMDb, on the sets of ‘Sholay', Dharam paaji used to pay Rs 20 to light-boys to purposely disturb the couple when they would shoot for the iconic scene where Dharam is teaching Hema how to shoot with a revolver. Just to keep hugging Hema, the actor ended up spending Rs 2000 at that time.

Converted to Islam

Since Dharmendra was already married to Prakash Kaur and had four kids, Hema turned down his marriage proposal initially. However, Dharmendra secretly got converted to Islam and changed his name to Dilawar Khan, since second marriage was legal as per the Islamic laws. It is believed that along with Dharam, Hema too got converted to Islam and the couple got married in an Iyengar style wedding. The whole marriage was kept a secret affair and it was revealed much later.

Link ups with Meena Kumari and Saira Banu

Before falling for the ‘Dream Girl' of Bollywood, Dharam paaji was linked up with other leading ladies of his time, namely Meena Kumari and Saira Banu. It is believed that Meena Kumari played a big role in shaping up Dharam's acting career back in the 60s who was just a newbie star. She used to recommend his name to top filmmakers of that time so that Dharmendra could get some movies.

Superstar for a reason

The He-Man of Bollywood, Dharmendra remains the only Bollywood actor to have delivered seven clean hits at the box office in a single year, having achieved the feat in 1987.

Awards and recognition

In 2012, Dharmendra received the Padma Bhushan award. Dharmendra was awarded the Best Contribution to Indian Cinema award in 2004. He received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 for his contributions to Hindi cinema.