Indian movie actor Dharmendra, whose actual name is Dharmendra Keval Krishna Deol was born on 8 December 1935 in Sahnewal, Punjab. He was regarded as one of the handsome men in the industry at that time. Currently he is a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Bikaner constituency of Rajasthan and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party political party as well. He is father of Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Ayesha Deol and Ahana Deol.At his peak time he was next to Amitabh Bachchan. He was fascinated with films right from childhood, often traveling miles to frequent the touring cinema. At his time he remembers going to watch `Dillagi` starring Suraiya at least 40 times. He was married at the age of 19 and took up a job with an American Drilling Company boring tube wells. Fortunate enough for him, he was noticed in a Filmfare spot-the-talent contest and came to Bombay to become an actor. He was signed by Arjun Hingorani for `Dil Bhi Tera, Hum Bhi Tere` in the year 1960. This was his first film as hero for Rs 51 as signing amount. However strong, supporting romantic lead roles in women oriented films like `Anpadh` in the year 1962 with Mala Sinha, `Bandini` in 1963 and `Soorat Aur Seerat` in the year 1963, both with Nutan brought Dharmendra to the fore. An intimacy with Meena Kumari saw the two of them starring together in a series of films. His first major hit film was `Phool Aur Paththar` and thus in the year of 1966 Dharmendra became a star.
He acted in many secularized Hindustani version of Bengali literary stereotypes as a soft romantic hero. His work can be seen starting with Bimal Roy`s Bandini and continuing with Hrishikesh Mukherjee`s 60s socials as for example `Anupama`, `Manjhli Didi` and `Atyakam`. He mainly played the nice, romantic, handsome hero in those films. He was regarded as one of the five best-looking men in the world in the 1960s. The 1970s Dharmendra ventures into action films as for example in the year 1968 he worked in Aankhein. This was a James Bond style thriller following the success of `Phool Aur Patthar`. He was prefect as the pistol-packing hero threatening the villain. One of his famous dialogues in these types of films was `Kaminey, Main Tera Khoon Pee Jaoonga!`. Some of his hits films of that era are `Mera Gaon Mera Desh`, `Jugnu`, `Kahani Kismet Ki`, `Yaadon ki Baraat`and `Sholay`. The later film and also `Chupke Chupke` proved Dharmendra`s flair for comedy. Though in `Sholay` Amitabh and lots of action was there, in `Chupke Chupke` he did tremendously good. He single-handedly carried Hrishikesh Mukherjee`s whacky comedy of a botany professor who impersonates a driver to spend some precious time with his wife at her brother-in-law`s place. It is a masterful performance of the actor of all time. Dharmendra also formed a hugely successful pairing with Hema Malini, the two of them doing a string of hit films together in 1970`s such as `Naya Zamana`, `Raja Jani`, `Seeta Aur Geeta`, `Jugnu`, `Dost` and `Sholay` among others. They fell in love and Hema became his second wife. He was very comfortable with the roles playing against the oppressive thakurs. He has also experimented with film production; he launched both of his sons in films, Sunny Deol in `Betaab` in the year 1983 and Bobby Deol in `Barsaat` in the year 1995. He also launched his brother`s son, Abhay Deol in `Socha Na Tha` in 2005. His recent release was `Apne` where he appeared opposite his sons Sunny and Bobby together for the first time. After a few years suspension from acting since the early 2000s he is reappearing in films as a character actor. He acted in `Metro` where opposite to him was Nafisa Ali and both of them covered a touchy part in the film. His `Apne` with two of his sons was also box office hit. His recent release was `Johnny Gaddaar `where he played in a villainious role with a romantic tinge. He has recently become active in politics with his wife Hema Malini. He won a position as a Member of Parliament in the 2004 general elections, from Bikaner in Rajasthan, on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket..
Indian movie actor Dharmendra is an award winning Bollywood star who often regarded as one of ten best-looking men in the world. Though in his film career he has not won any award still now a days he is getting many of them which can be described as followes. In 1997, Dharmendra won a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema over many years. While receiving the award from Dilip Kumar and his wife, Dharmendra grew emotional and remarked that he never received any Filmfare award in the `Best Actor` category despite having worked in so many successful films. He was glad that his contributions had finally been recognized. He is a recipient of the prestigious Living Legend Award by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian entertainment industry as well. In 2003, he has won Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sansui Viewers` Choice Movie Awards. In 2004, he was honoured for Best Contribution to Indian Cinema. In 2005, he won Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement, whereas in 2007, he won lifetime achievement award at the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF). In 2007, he got IIFA Lifetime Achievement Award and also got lifetime Achievement award by DBR Entertainment.among his other awards, The Punjabi newspaper `Quami Ekta` honoured him for his contributions to the Indian cinema. In 2008, he was awarded `Actor Par Excellence` at the Max Stardust Awards.
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