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Dharmendra: A life lived king-size

MUMBAI: Dharmendra made a soft landing in Hindi cinema singing Mukeshs Mujhko is raat ki tanhai mein awaaz na do in Arjun Hingoranis Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960), a sad, star-crossed love story about the poor and disempowered in Mumbai, who are unable to rise above their circumstances. The film also showcased a facet of Dharmendras personality that he came to be identified with for the rest of his lifehis unquestionable handsomeness. The audience could not take its eyes off the chaste good looks and trim body he sported as a young street salesman-turned-boxer. A few years down the line, the screen caught fire, metaphorically, in O P Ralhans Phool Aur Patthar (1966) when Garam-Dharam, as he later came to be called, loomed over a sleeping Meena Kumari and took his shirt off to thoughtfully shield her from the cold. At a time when fitness was not quite the characteristic of a Hindi film hero, Dharmendra rang in a new paradigm of robustness. A legacy carried forward by the likes of Vinod Khanna and Salman Khan, and practically every single contemporary male star. However, there has been a significant difference: Dharmendras was not about sculpted, gym-toned, six-pack abs but a rugged, healthy male ideal. His masculinity before getting taken over by the action and stunts and loudness in the 80s was also underlined with a quiet tenderness, overwhelming romance and playful humour. Dharmendra remained impervious to the superstardom of his contemporaries, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, but didnt get celebrated as much for his own. Despite the diversity of roles in over 300 films and 65 years in the film industry, dotted with innumerable hits, being the He-Man ended up defining Dharmendra and confining him as well. But for every action entertainer like Raj Khoslas Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), and Nasir Hussains Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), there was Hrishikesh Mukherjees hilarious Chupke Chupke, and the same filmmakers poignant Satyakam. And of course, there was Ramesh Sippys Sholay. Through the 80s, 90s and 2000s, his career began sliding, and his own children and nephewSunny, Bobby, Esha and Abhay Deoltook to showbiz. He later retired to his farmhouse in Lonavala. It took Sriram Raghavan to celebrate the Garam-Dharam magic in Johnny Gaddar (2007). And, ironically, its Raghavans Ikkis, a few weeks away from release, thatd perhaps be his last, and posthumous, performance. From a martyr in Haqeeqat to the father of one in the Raghavan film, hopefully, it would be the fitting finale for the multi-layered person and actor Dharmendra was.