DHARAMENDRA
Hindi cinema’s ‘he-man’ Dharamendra added another title on his own . He was honored at Nashik International Film Festival (NIFF) with a lifetime achievement award. Dharamendra was the action and romantic hero of the Bollywood. He is famous for his humorous touch in his dialog-delivery and the timing in Hindi films. He had acted in more than 200 Hindi films, and he got many awards for his contribution to Hindi cinema.
BIOGRAPHY
Hindi actor Dharamendra was born on 8th December,1935 in Punjab, India as the son of Kewal Krishna Singh Deol and Satwant Kaur. He started his film career in 1960 with the film Arjun Hingorani’s “Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere”. After that, he had never looked back, and he became one of the most prominent faces in Bollywood for five decades. His movies including “Phool Aur Patthar”,”Jugnu”,”Raja Jani” and “Loafer” were big blockbusters in India. He delivered an unbelievable performance in one of the biggest movies of Indian cinema, “Sholay”. He played as “Veeru” in “Sholay” and his dialog delivery in this film is wonderful. His other notable movies are Raj Kapoor’s “Mera Naam Joker”,Ramesh Sippy’s “Seeta Aur Geeta”, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “Chupke Chupke”,”Razia Sultan”, “Qayamat”, “Kshatriya”, “Taaqat”, “Return of Jewel Thief”, “Pyaar Kiya Tho Darna Kya”, “Apne” etc. His upcoming film is “Har Pall” directed by Jahnu Barua. He is also active in politics. He had elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2004 general elections from Bikaner in Rajasthan on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. He married twice and has been maintaining both his wives. First, he married to Prakash Kaur in 1954, and they have two sons and two daughters. His sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol are also successful actors. In 1980, he had married to Bollywoods dream girl Hema Malini and they have two daughters named Esha and Ahana. His daughter Esha Deol is also an actress. For marrying Hema Malini, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Dilawar Khan, because his first wife Prakash Kaur refused to divorce him. Dharamendra was the real action hero of perfection in his days and was still considered to be the best romantic hero in Hindi films.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Dharamendra acted in many successful films, but he did not receive any Filmfare awards in the “Best Actor” categories. However, in 1997, he won a ‘Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his contribution to Indian Cinema over many years. In addition, he received ‘Living Legend Award’ by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Sansui Viewers’ Choice Movie Awards, ‘Zee Cine Award’ for Lifetime Achievement, ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), ‘IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award’, ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the 10th Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image International Film (M.A.M.I). Furthermore, in 2004, he was honored for Best Contribution to Indian Cinema and in 2008, he was named “Actor Par Excellence” at the Max Stardust Awards. He was selected as one of the most handsome men in the world in the mid seventies.