Shobhaa De Says Hema Malini Was Left Out by Dharmendra’s First Family After His Demise: 'It Must Have Hurt'
Shobhaa De claimed Hema Malini was sidelined by Dharmendra’s first family after his death, calling it a deeply painful situation. She said the actor chose dignity over public drama during an emotionally difficult time.
Columnist and author Shobhaa De has claimed that veteran actor Hema Malini was “completely sidelined” by Dharmendra’s first family after his death, which, she said, explains the actor’s absence from his prayer meet. The gathering was organised by Dharmendra’s first wife Prakash Kaur and his sons, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.
Shobhaa De speaks on Deol family dynamics
In an interview with journalist Barkha Dutt, Shobhaa De opened up about the complex family equations following Dharmendra’s passing. According to her, Hema Malini was excluded by the family of Dharmendra’s first wife, a situation she described as deeply painful given Hema’s long association with the late actor.
She said, “Must have been a particularly difficult and hard decision… To be totally left out by the first family from something that she had spent 45 years of her own life… Nourishing, cherishing, which had enriched her life. She had two daughters from this marriage. It must have hurt terribly, but she kept all that for her own privacy. However she wished to deal with it and when she did have a public function, I thought she conducted it with utmost dignity, not just for herself but for the person she had lost..”
Shobhaa further noted that Hema could have chosen to draw public attention to herself during the emotionally charged period but consciously refrained from doing so. She felt the actor prioritised grace and restraint over what she termed public “one-upmanship”.
“Given the fact that Hema is a towering personality herself, the idea that she chose dignity over making a public display of one-upmanship, I think, says a lot about her character. She could so easily have, in a way, it’s not a nice word but, hijacked those emotional moments right after Dharam ji passed away. The media would have loved to cover every tear and every gasp that she may have taken and intruded into her privacy and completely stripped her of the dignity that obviously matters so much to her," Shobhaa shared.
Separate prayer meets held
A prayer meeting for Dharmendra was held in Mumbai on November 27, organised by Sunny and Bobby Deol. Hema Malini and her daughters, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol, were not present at the event. Instead, Hema chose to hold a separate ceremony at her residence on the same day to pay her respects to her late husband.
Dharmendra was first married to Prakash Kaur in 1954, and the couple had four children — Sunny, Bobby, Vijeta and Ajeeta. He later married Hema Malini, with whom he has two daughters, Esha and Ahana.
Dharmendra’s passing
Dharmendra passed away on November 24 at the age of 89, just weeks before his 90th birthday on December 8. He had recently been discharged from Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital and was recovering at home. The legendary actor was cremated in Mumbai on November 25. He will make his final on-screen appearance in the upcoming war drama Ikkis, which stars Agastya Nanda.
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