He Was the Most Handsome Actor in Bollywood
Dharmendra is a legendary actor who worked in more than 300 films and is known as the “He-Man”
of Bollywood for his strong physique in many Hindi movies. But being immortal like a superhero is
not possible for any human, and Dharmendra is also fighting for his survival after two hospitalizations
for his breathing difficulty since October 2025.
Dharmendra was born on December 8, 1935, in Ludhiana, Punjab, India, as Dharmendra
Kewal Krishan Deol. He is the son of Kewal Krishan and Satwant Kaur and was born into a Punjabi
Jat family. He studied at a government senior secondary school in Ludhiana and completed his early
schooling there. His father was a village school headmaster. Deol later completed his 12 th grade from
Ramgarhia College in Phagwara, Punjab.
Dharmendra married twice—first to Prakash Kaur in 1954, and later to Hema Malini in 1980.
He married Kaur when he was 19 years old. He has four children of Kaur: sons Sunny Deol and
Bobby Deol (both actors), and daughters Vijeta and Ajeeta. After moving to Mumbai, when he was
acting in the movies, he met Hema Malini. He met Hema Malini on the sets of their film Tum Haseen
Main Jawaan in 1970, and they fell in love. They got married on May 2, 1980, but they converted to
Islam by changing their names before getting married. It was difficult for Dharmendra to get married
again because he was already married to Prakash Kaur, and he could take a divorce under the Hindu
Marriage Act because polygamy was prohibited at that time. So, they changed their names to Dilawar
Khan and Ayesha to legally solemnize the nikah (a Muslim marriage ceremony), but the claim was later denied by Dharmendra. After the marriage, they later also had a traditional Iyengar wedding
ceremony to honor Hema Malini South Indian roots. They have two daughters, Esha Deol
and Ahana Deol.
Dharmendra was passionate about movies while growing up in a village in Punjab, and he had
a dream of becoming an actor. One day, he saw an advertisement in a newspaper for the Filmfare
magazine nationally organized New Talent Award. He applied and went for the contest. He finally
won the contest, which encouraged him to move to the city of dreams—Mumbai.
After moving to Mumbai, he had to face a lot of hardships, and fulfilling his dream of becoming an
actor was not easy for him at that time. He had to live in a garage because of financial struggles, and
had to work in a drilling firm to earn money. He used to earn 200 rupees a month, which was fair
enough to keep up his livelihood in Mumbai, but often he also had to do overtime to earn extra
money. So, he had to go through a lot of struggles before he gained popularity and became the “He-
Man” of Bollywood.
Dharmendra first acted in the Bollywood movie Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere in 1960, and he
played the role of “Ashok” in that movie. After that, he got a chance to act in many more movies, and
acted in Shola Aur Shabnam, Boy Friend, Ayee Milan Ki Bela, Phool Aur Patthar, Devar, and so on.
However, he gained much popularity from the movie Sholay in 1975, in which he played the role of
“Veeru”.
In the Sholay movie, Amitabh Bachan also acted, and played the role of “Jai”, and became a
major attraction for the audiences because Bachan had more fans than Dharmendra at that time.
Without Bachan, Dharmendra couldnt gain much popularity in that movie. Moreover, it took only
nine years for Bachan to gain popularity from the Sholay movie because he entered into Bollywood
later than Dharmendra, and Bachan acted in his first movie, Saat Hindustani, in 1969, nine years after
the release of Dharmendra’s first movie. After the Sholay movie, Dharmendra has acted in a lot of
movies, and a few of his hit movies are Charas, Dharam Veer, Chacha Bhatija, Dream Girl, Azaad,
and so on. As of 2025, he acted in the movie Ikkis, to be released on December 25, 2025, in which he
played the role of “Brigadier ML Khetarpal”. Dharmendra has a record of delivering the maximum number of hit movies than anyone else
in Bollywood. In 1987, he delivered seven successful movies in a single year, which is still a record in
Bollywood. He is not only the “He-Man” of Bollywood but also the most handsome actor of
Bollywood. According to Madhuri Dixit, he is the most handsome actor she has ever seen on screen.
Nowadays, Dharmendra stays separately in his farmhouse in Lonavala, and his family stays in Juhu,
Mumbai, which could be one of the reasons for his declining health, because only family members
can provide the best support and care.
Dharmendra’s health issues started between 2015 and 2020. During that period, he had faced
multiple health issues, including back pain, muscle strain, and weakness, which occasionally required
hospitalization. He had a corneal transplant surgery because the cornea of his left eye was damaged.
These could be because of the COVID-19 vaccine or infection, and according to the CDC of the USA,
most people with underlying health issues could get more health complications after a COVID-19
infection or COVID-19 vaccine. So, Dharmendra’s health issues could be because of COVID-19
infection during the pandemic or from taking the vaccine.
On October 30, 2025, Dharmendra was admitted to the ICU of the Breach Candy Hospital in
Mumbai for breathing difficulties, and he was discharged after a few hours of recovery. But he was
again admitted to the same hospital on November 10, 2025, because of respiratory issues. Usually,
such respiratory issues at the age of 89 years could be because of a medical condition called dyspnea,
which is caused because of two common problems: a heart problem or lung disease (such as
pneumonia). Dharmendra didn’t have any heart problems, and most likely his breathing difficulty is
from a lung infection (pneumonia), which usually happens from the deterioration of the lungs due to
aging.
According to one report, those who are in their 90s and admitted once to the ICU for a severe
respiratory issue have a mortality rate of about 30.9%. For those who are admitted twice, the hospital
mortality rate increased to 45.5%. And if admitted three times, the mortality rate reached as high as
80%. The higher the mortality rate, the greater the chance of dying.
Dharmendra was a healthy person and never had any serious health issues, but the sudden rise in
health problems could be related to his lifestyle or medical negligence. Elderly people staying away from family develop an unhealthy lifestyle, which gives rise to health issues. Besides that, most
private hospitals often handle patients with a great deal of negligence, prioritizing profit over patient
care. In those hospitals, doctors would recommend unnecessary medical tests and prescribe
medications that create more health issues later. The Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai is renowned
for its reputation as a top-class private hospital. Still, most celebrities, such as the legendary artist Lata
Mangeshkar, have died in that hospital.
Even though he was admitted to the hospital for breathing difficulty and health issues,
Dharmendra was soon discharged and taken back home by his family, where he stayed alive for many
days. On November 24, 2025, Dharmendra died at home while he was on a ventilator. He was really a
“He-Man”, and that’s why he survived for so many days at home, even with such a serious health
problem.
– Debojit Acharjee (Software Engineer/Author)
Leave a Reply