'Simplicity Remained Dharmendra's Greatest Charm'

'Asha Parekh once said he never really went beyond the villager he originally was.'

Dharmendra passed into the ages last week, but left behind a rich legacy in the movies.

Dr Rajiv Vijaykar captured his essence in his biography, Dharmendra: A Biography: Not Just a He-Man.

"Garam Dharam slowly became associated with him as his action image grew more and more successful," Dr Vijaykar tells Patcy N/Rediff. "At the same time, he represented the ideal son for parents, the ideal husband for a daughter, and the ideal sweetheart for a young girl. He fit every mould with ease."

Why did you think of writing a book on Dharmendra?

Apart from having admired him since childhood, growing up watching Hindi films, with my parents always bringing home film magazines, I had seen almost all his major movies. Dharamji was already a star by then. I vividly remember his films across various genres.

Later, when I became a journalist, I would often suggest interviewing Dharamji to my editors.

But the usual response was, 'Nahi yaar, uska toh chal nahin raha hai'because that was the difficult phase of his career. This was in the early to mid-1990s.

I would feel disappointed because as a new journalist (and a practising doctor at the same time), my first instinct was to meet people whose work I had loved since childhood -- composers, filmmakers, actors, singers, and others I deeply admired. Some were still active, some weren't, but many were accessible.

Yet, whenever I mentioned Dharamji, the answer was always a 'no'. So I waited for over a decade.

Then in 2007, Apne was about to release. The PR team hadn't organised a press show until the first night, and there were no interviews.

At the time, I was writing for a newspaper in California.

My colleagues suggested I write a short introduction. What I ended up writing wasn't very short, but it stood out.

Later, when Rupa Publications approached me and asked if I'd like to write an authorised book on a star, I suggested Dharamji's name. They happily agreed.

I met him and informed him.

He blessed me and said, 'Good. I will not doubt what you write about me.'

He had already told me earlier that he liked the way I had mentioned Hema Malini in that article I wrote in the US.

In the book too, I mentioned Hema Malini as well as the Meena Kumari angle.

After the book was released, I called him.

Do you remember your first interaction with him?

The first time I met him was at the music launch of Chamko at Juhu Centaur (the hotel in northwest Mumbai). I went up to him, introduced myself, and said, 'I'm the same person who wrote that article.'

He hugged me and immediately took me to meet his sons, Sunny and Bobby, who were also there.

I told him, 'Dharamji, I've met all of them, everyone except you.'

By then, I had met Hema as well, and interviewed Esha and Abhay too.

It took a while before I finally did my first proper interview with him. I met him again at the Yamla Pagla Deewana music launch.

I must mention something small about that event. I was heading there with my wife when we got stuck in a traffic jam. The entire crowd seemed to be heading to the venue just to see Dharmendra.

Since we were getting late, I asked my wife to take the wheel, and I walked the rest of the way. I reached just in time to catch the end of the music launch. That was one of the many meetings I had with him.

But he would always mention that interview I had written for the American newspaper. He brought it up every single time, right up to my last meeting with him, which was at the Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani success party.

Tell us about Dharmendra's life-changing moment after watching Shaheed (1948, starring Dilip Kumar).

He was fond of watching movies, but he would often watch them secretly (in his childhood). His idols were Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor.

Shaheed was the turning point. It was after watching that film that he decided he wanted to act.

He had a very romantic notion of life in Bombay.

But when he came here, he left almost immediately. He returned a second time when he was selected in the Filmfare Talent Hunt.

Even after winning, he still had to struggle because he wasn't the top winner.

Fortunately, he was noticed by the right people. The person who truly backed him was Arjun Hingorani, who became his mentor.

He had a great relationship with Manoj Kumar. In fact, their struggle began together.

Yes, the struggle of three people began together -- Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and Manoj Kumar.

He once told me that Shashi Kapoor had fallen seriously ill, and both Dharamji and Manoj were planning to visit him, saying, 'He is our old friend.'

Around that time, I had gone to interview Dharmendra.

He showed me a picture in The Times of India of Amitabh Bachchan coming out of hospital.

He told me, 'We decided not to go because people would think we needed publicity, that we wanted to be photographed.'

At that time, Yamla Pagla Deewana was about to release, so they felt their visit might be misunderstood.

They decided that, God willing, if Shashi Kapoor recovered, they would meet him later.

Dharmendra was known to be very modest.

Yes. I remember watching an old episode of The Kapil Sharma Show where they were showing some of his old family photographs.

In one of the pictures, he was kissing Rajesh Khanna on the cheek.

When Kapil asked him about it, he said, 'I am not bothered about whether I receive an award or not. If something good happens to somebody, I am the first person to be happy.'

He was extremely simple.

His idea of coming to Mumbai, earning, and becoming 'big' was just to own a Fiat car and a flat. That was his dream.

Asha Parekh once said he never really went beyond the villager he originally was. In many ways, that simplicity remained his greatest charm.

Looking back, what did you think of his work?

Dharamji eventually began doing multiple films at a time, across all kinds of genres, including some third-rate ones.

He went through a B-grade phase that lasted almost a decade. He did films like Munnibai, a good one like Loha and another Loha that was quite poor. He accepted these films because he needed the money.

His household was always full of relatives, and he was also investing heavily in projects. One was a film studio in Khandala, which never materialised. The other was Sunny Super Sound in Mumbai.

A lot of his earnings went into these ventures.

The second thing is that he was a hugely under-rated actor. The only person I can compare him with, in terms of being under-rated, is Shammi Kapoor.

Dharmendra's performances were not theatrical or gimmicky. His acting was always natural, effortless.

How did he get the titles of He-Man and Garam Dharam?

I think they emerged as he gradually shifted into action roles.

That transition probably began with Phool Aur Patthar.

Garam Dharam slowly became associated with him as his action image grew more and more successful.

At the same time, he represented the ideal son for parents, the ideal husband for a daughter, and the ideal sweetheart for a young girl. He fit every mould with ease.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff