How Dharmendra Found His ‘Dream Girl’ Hema Malini, Leaving Behind His First Love, Prakash Kaur

The story of Dharmendra and Hema Malini is a tale of love that has been prevailing in Bollywood for long and still very complicated to understand. The way they met was not exactly a sudden eruption of passion but rather a long drawn out burning of it on the movie set. The famous actor, who was already a megastar and a husband, met the glowing young and beautiful Hema Malini, the “Dream Girl,” in around 1968 on the location of Tum Haseen Main Jawaan.

He could not help but was enthralled by her beauty, elegance and professionalism. During the following years when they were brought together for great hits like the legendary Sholay (1975) the conflict between their professional friendship and deep personal love developed. He would struggle to do things for her, sometimes he would even set up special lighting for her scenes and pay the spot boys to ruin the shots just so he could stay with her longer!

The Filmy Romance Blossoms

Their bond grew stronger even though there was a major hurdle in their way: Dharmendra had not divorced his first wife, Prakash Kaur, and was still living with her. In the traditional society where they lived, the love affair of Dharmendra with Hema Malini was the talk of the town, which caused a lot of uproar and suffering.

The actor, who was very much in love with Hema, was forced to make a choice that was very painful. He was not allowed to divorce Prakash Kaur as she would not allow that and the reason was quite understandable since they had four children together, two of whom became actors later on, Sunny and Bobby Deol. However, his love for Hema Malini was unshakeable.

The Marriage and Its Aftermath

Dharmendra and Hema Malini had to take an extraordinary step if they were to formalize their relationship. Although having been married for the first time he could not remarry under Hindu law, the couple is said to have ascended to Islam in 1980 to secure their marriage under Muslim law which allowed for a second wife. This act was the ultimate sign of his love that he would still be in a half tie with his first family but would prefer to be in love with Hema.

Not only did Dharmendra provide for Prakash Kaur and their children, he also kept a respectful relationship with them, but his main love and marriage were now with Hema Malini. This choice brought a huge and painful division in his life, he left behind a more conventional existence for a new, very famous and extraordinarily powerful love.

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