Bollywood’s Dream Girl turns 70 today. The actress cum producer cum politician is one of the most popular, beautiful, and talented actress B-town has ever witnessed.  She has been praised by critics for her dancing and acting and has been awarded Padma Shri.

Hema made her Bollywood debut in 1970 in film ‘Sharafat’ opposite Dharmendra. And nobody knew at that time, that they would become soulmates later. At that time, Dharmendra was already married and was a father of 2 kids- Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol.

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The jodi of Hema Malini and Dharmendra was the most beautiful jodi of their time. While Hema being the ‘dream girl’, Dharmendra was the most popular actor with a macho personality. Both of them were at peak of their career. The then rumored couple created a hush-hush among their fans. Here are some lesser-known facts about their beautiful love story:

1- There were rumors that actor Sanjeev Kumar proposed to Hema Malini. Sanjeev had proposed while filming for Sholay, but Hema had straight away rejected his proposal because she was then dating Dharmendra. He was so depressed that he started drinking, which led to his declining health.

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2- Sanjeev Kumar used Jeetendra to impress his girl. Jeetendra who was supposed to be a middleman actually fell for Hema. Hema recalls how they were almost going to get married.

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3- Not many people know that Hema and Dharmendra had converted to Islam to get married. Dharmendra’s first wife Prakash Kaur had denied separating from him legally and therefore he changed to Islam as the religion allows more than one marriage for a man. Hema too converted to Islam. This shows that they were so much in love, that they didn’t care about what people would think or say about them.

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4-  Dharmendra was already married to Prakash before he tied the knot to Hema. The actor had two sons with his first wife- Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. Prakash didn’t want to separate from him because she was heartbroken with his relationship with Hema and was worried about her two kids too. However, Dharam made a proper balance in both families- One with Prakash and two sons-Sunny and Bobby, and another family with Hema and two daughters- Esha Deol and Ahana Deol.

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5- No father would be happy if his daughter would decide to marry a much older man who already has a wife and two sons. Moreover, Hema’s step of converting into Islam was totally unacceptable to him. However, Hema still chose to go against her family and tied the knot with Dharam. This left Hema’s mother grieving too much extent.

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6- Prakash never liked the second family of Dharam. However, Sunny and Bobby shared a good bond with their half-sisters Esha and Ahana. However, when Hema invited Sunny and Bobby to the marriage of her daughters, they both didn’t show up. This caused a rift between both families. It is said that both the sons were close to their mother Prakash and might have abandoned the marriage on her instructions.

Hema and Dharam Paji’s love story is a filmy but a beautiful one. They are one of the most iconic couples of Bollywood and have given us major couple goals!

Here’s wishing the Dream Girl of Bollywood a very Happy Birthday!!

Published by Harmisha Chauhan on 15 Oct 2018