Mumbai: Following Dharmendra’s demise on November 24 last year, two prayer meets were organised — one by his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, and another by his second wife Hema Malini. It sparked speculation of a rift in the family.
Dismissing such speculation, the veteran actress finally revealed the reason behind two separate prayer meets.
“Yeh humare ghar ka personal mamla hai (this is our family’s personal matter). We spoke to each other. I held a prayer meet at my home because my circle of people is different. Then I organised one in Delhi because I am in politics, and it was important for me to host a prayer meeting there for my friends from that field. Mathura is my constituency, and the people there are very fond of him. So I held a prayer meet there as well. I am happy with what I did,” Hema shared in an interview with The Times of India.
Revealing Sunny’s plan of converting Dharmendra’s much-loved farmhouse into a museum, Hema said, “I think Sunny is planning something along those lines, and he will definitely do it. Everything is happening nicely. So there’s no need to worry ki yeh do alag families hai, pata nahi kya hoga. Kisiko itni fikr karne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Hum log ekdum achche hai (these are two different families, what will happen now? No one needs to worry that much. We are all fine).”
The He-Man of Bollywood breathed his last at his Mumbai home days before turning 90.
Sunny and Bobby organised a prayer meet in Mumbai on November 27 for celebrities from the industry, including Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan. But Hema and Esha did not attend the prayer meet.
Hema and her daughters then held a prayer meet at her Mumbai residence on December 11.
The veteran actress also hosted prayer meetings for Dharmendra at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi’s Janpath and Mathura.
Remembering Dharmendra and his last days, Hema shared, “It was a companionship that stood the test of time. It was an inconsolable shock. It has been terrible because for a month we were struggling when he was not well. We were constantly trying to cope with whatever was happening in the hospital. We were all there—I, Esha, Ahana, Sunny, Bobby—all together. In the past, there had been instances when he went to the hospital and came back home fine. We thought iss baar bhi aa jayenge.”
She added, “He was talking to us nicely. On my birthday (October 16), he even wished me. His birthday was coming up on December 8, when he was turning 90, and we were thinking of celebrating it nicely. The preparations were on, and then suddenly, he was not there. To personally see him sink was very difficult. Nobody should have to go through this kind of situation.”
Admitting that she misses Dharmendra every minute, the veteran actress said, “It is important for us to keep him alive in our hearts and memories.”
Talking about how media frenzy over Dharmendra’s illness and hospitalisation distressed the family, she stated, “Sunny was getting upset and angry. We all were going through an emotional time and the media was running behind our cars… harassment bahut hua.”
