Dharmendra’s death last month shocked Bollywood. Director Anil Sharma, who collaborated on hits like Hukumat and Apne, shared their first meeting story from Burning Train sets. As a young assistant, Sharma approached the tired star in his car with Hema Malini, receiving blessings and a success prediction. “There has never been an actor like him,” Sharma said, noting global mourning.
Last month’s passing of Bollywood legend Dharmendra plunged the entire film world and country into profound grief. He enjoyed a strong professional and personal connection with director Anil Sharma, teaming up on hit movies like ‘Hukumat’, ‘Elaan-E-Jung’, ‘Tahalka’ and ‘Apne’. During a fresh interview, Sharma reminisced about their initial encounter, picturing Dharmendra in a high-end car next to his second wife, Hema Malini, and noted that the family preferred keeping his last hours private.
First encounter memory
In an interview with The Digital Commentary, director Anil reflected on his initial encounter with Dharmendra, recounting,“When I was doing Burning Train, I was an assistant there, was around 17-18 years old. I was in Raj Kapoor sahab’s makeup room on the first floor at RK Studios. Only Dharam ji was allowed access to Raj Kapoor sahab’s makeup room. He had said that when Dharmendra comes, give my makeup room to him and nobody else.”The filmmaker added, “I was one of the costume assistants and had to set Dharam ji’s outfit options. When I was setting it, word came that Dharmendra is here. From ground floor, the news of his arrival reached us till the last room of the corridor. I ran downstairs and saw that there is a Volkswagen, with 30-40 people around it. BR Chopra and Ravi Chopra sahab were also there. I came and stood there.”
Post-shoot fatigue
Exhausted from his ‘Razia Sultan’ shoot, Dharmendra requested to push back filming by a day. “The door of the car opened and I saw a glimpse of Dharam ji for the first time, sitting with Hema ji inside. I paused for a second and felt that I got everything in life. He had come after Razia Sultan’s shooting and was a bit tired. He told Chopra ji that he will shoot tomorrow because he was a bit tired,” Sharma said.
Bold approach
Despite his hesitation, the director couldn’t resist going up to Dharmendra. He said, “The call sheet had come. I quickly filled it, went to the main door and said, ‘Sir, sir, sir.’ He opened the van and asked who is it. I gave him the call sheet and he asked what it was. The trend had just started back then. I told him it’s about tomorrow’s program. He said that Chopra sahab had already informed him about tomorrow’s time”.The director continued, “He understood, smiled at me and asked, ‘Are you an assistant?’ I admitted that I only came to meet him. He asked about my father, knew him maybe. He told me to work hard and I will become something one day. I touched his feet for blessings and he said, ‘Jeete raho (live long).’ I still have that feeling with me today.”
Unmatched legacy
Sharma emphasized that Dharmendra remains unmatched across the entire film industry and said, “There has never been a person or actor like him, and can never be. People used to ask him many times, where do you stand in the race. He used to say that I don’t know about numbers, I just know that I am number one in people’s hearts. You see, after he passed away, it’s almost a month, there’s nothing on social media besides him.”“Everyone is talking about him. No procession was done but feels that the whole country is mourning his loss. The family wanted to spend the last moments with him alone. If it was crowded, then how that would have happened? Not just India, even Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, England, making statues, everyone is talking about Dharmendra only,” he concluded. Go to Source
