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Remembering her co-star from classic films like Satyakam and Chupke Chupke, veteran actress Sharmila Tagore on Monday said Dharmendra was completely different, a man who stuck to his roots and did not let stardom change his outlook towards people till the end. Dharmendra died on Monday at the age of 89 after prolonged illness. (Also Read: Dharmendra passes away live updates here)
Sharmila Tagore says Dharmendra stayed connected till the end
Sharmila has only fond memories of the man behind the star – a friendly and supportive human being who treated everyone, rich or poor, with equal warmth.
“I didn’t find any change in him till the end. As an actor, of course, it was wonderful to act with him and his attitude towards the crowd or people on the set was the same friendly, cooperative person he was. He met people, whether rich or poor, with equal warmth. I have seen him hug a man on the streets without hesitation.
“He was completely different,” he told PTI. He never forgot his roots and he spoke openly about it. As it is said, he was a down to earth person and he remained very close to his real self… I didn’t see any change in him with stardom and popularity.”
Sharmila says her role in ‘Chupke Chupke’ deserved a National Award
Dharmendra and Sharmila worked in many films in Hindi cinema, but their pairing continues even today in the films of filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee. He collaborated in Anupamaa and Satyakam, both of which are considered among his best films.
Her most popular film was the comedy drama Chupke Chupke with Hrishikesh, and Sharmila believes that Dharmendra, who played a Botany professor pretending to be a Hindi-speaking driver in the film, should have won the National Film Award.
“For Chupke Chup, he should have got a National Award. He was brilliant. But I think in those days they thought comedy wasn’t… only a serious actor should get an award, maybe something like that.”
Another aspect of Dharmendra’s characters
Dharmendra also worked with Hrishikesh in Meena Kumari starrer Majhli Didi, Jaya Bachchan starrer Guddi and Saira Banu starrer Chaitali. Sharmila said that directors would often tease Dharmendra for playing episodic characters in his films, in contrast to the actor’s well-established “muscle man” image in mainstream Bollywood films.
“Hrishida used to tease him. He used to say to Dharamji, ‘Forget that you are Dharmendra, the muscle man. Here you are playing a very good role’… He used to make us laugh… We were all very relaxed on Rishida’s sets… I think Dharam liked the environment where he was not given special treatment. And we did very good films from Satyakam to Chupke Chupke and Anupamaa. They were all very good films.”
When Dharmendra worked extra hours for him
Sharmila said that she still remembers how Dharmendra had increased his shooting hours for her during the making of Mere Humdum Mere Dost. She recalled, “I was doing double shifts in the morning. I was shooting for another film from 7 to 2 o’clock. And from 2 to 10 o’clock, I was working for my friend Mere Dost. And we were filming the song Chhalka Yeh Jam. And by 10 o’clock we could not finish the song. So the director requested me to come the next day.”
The actor said she already had a morning shift for another film the next day, and in the evening she had to leave for Kolkata as her husband, cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was playing a Test match.
“I had planned to do the second shoot till 2 o’clock and then catch a 4 o’clock flight or something like that to Kolkata… I requested Dharam if he could go ahead and finish the song. It was 10 o’clock… he agreed, and we finished the song. Those were crazy days.”
“We shot the song till six in the morning… Whenever they (the crew) were lighting for the shot, he would go away and sleep or rest in the make-up room. We were shooting in Kardar Studios, which no longer exists… He was very sweet. I will always remember that gesture. I can’t think of anyone else who would have done that. He would have said, ‘Rinku (Sharmila’s surname), we love you so much, but we need to sleep. Is.’ No sane person would do this, but Dharam did it. He was different. I was always grateful to him.”
The two actors also worked together on Yakeen, Ek Mahal Ho Sapano Ka, Devar, and Sunny.
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