'Nobody wants to be like that'

Dharmendra recently penned a heartfelt note to the ladies in his life -- wife Hema Malini and their daughters, Esha and Ahana -- as they could not attend his grandson Karan Deol's wedding recently.

Just what has it been like for Hema Malini, living in such an unconventional marriage?

In a recent interview with Bharathi S Pradhan for Lehren Retro, Hema gave everyone a peek into her thoughts.

'Nobody wants to be like that; it happens. Automatically, what happens, you have to accept,' she said in the interview.

'Otherwise nobody will feel like they want to live their life like this. Every woman wants to have a husband, children, like a normal family. But somewhere, it went out of the way... I am not feeling bad about it, or sulking about it. I am happy with myself. I have my two children, and I have brought them up very well.'

Dharmendra, she maintained, has always been there for the family, even worrying about when their daughters would get married.

'Actually he was worried, "shaadi hona chaiye bachchon ka jaldi." I said "Hoga. When the time is right, the right person will come around." With the blessings of god and guru ma, everything happened,' she said.

Hema Malini and Dharmendra got married in 1980 when he was still married to his first wife, Prakash Kaur.