Iconic Hero

 

QUIETLY, he slipped into death’s arms. True, he struggled for life and his fans prayed for his well-being. But in those last days, as one can imagine, superstar Dharmendra must have told himself and others that his time had come. True, appropriate medical handling had to happen. Yet, those who knew Dharmendra also knew that he had the courage to face reality as it was, and equanimity to stay calm. However, the He-Man of Hindi cinema has left behind a void that belonged only to him and none else. That was how Dharmendra lived all his life -- in his very special place he carved for himself with effort, with focus, with dedication. From his ascendance in the footprint of a generation of movie greats to his staying on top for decades, thus, was not just a happenstance, but an outcome of a very serious engagement with excellence -- in everything, on-screen and off-screen in real life. Whatever he did was in that category. Therefore, whatever he touched turned gold.

 

He may have seen a few cinematic failures in his long career, all right. But those exceptions only proved the rule of his being a man in an altogether iconic category. That he was a He-Man was okay for description. But deeper inside, there was a man with a soft heart -- and a soft tone, as if he rarely lost his cool. In a competition where he was one of the judges, he advised one young man to be extremely careful while performing calisthenic stunts. Life was bigger than stunts, he said in the softest tone he could muster and with misty eyes. This softness was the usual experience of Dharmendra’s co-actors --men and women -- and directors and writers and make-up artists and cameramen and even spot-boys. Dharmendra arrived on the scene when the Hindi cinema was seeing a glorious high attained by the men like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Rajendra Kumar.

 

They took the cinema to a height reaching where would be difficult for any ordinary talent. Yet, those great stars also attracted many other talented ones such as Dharmendra -- and of course the unforgettable Rajesh Khanna. The show went on -- and will go on even now. In that train of greatness, Dharmendra occupied a slot that belonged only to him. His name became an insurance of success -- artistic and at the box office. In his own manner, Dharmendra became a symbol of toughness, of manliness -- so much so that countless young people in the country cast themselves in the Dharmendra-mould. His movies proved to be magnetic successes, and his heroines never felt tired of describing him as an actor best to work with. But then, that was most others connected with movies felt -- no matter their domains and expertise. He was everybody’s darling, so to say (unlike a few other superstars who stepped on many a toe and ruffled many a feather quite unnecessarily).

 

Beyond the sets -- on even on the sets -- he was one of those rare persons with whom everybody wanted to work or to be. Dharmendra was urbane whose panache was a matter of legend. Yet, there was certain rusticness about his persona which endeared him to countless numbers of people -- co-workers and fans and even the media. To an interviewer who asked about the secret of his magnetic personality, Dharmendra once said, “Aaap ko khud hi ko chhota rakhana zaroori hai. Aaap chhote rahenge to bade ho jayenge” (You have to remain small to become big). That was possibly the general way of the generation to which Dharmendra belonged -- simple, transparent, candid, with a great sense of balance and restraint. Such a great actor is now gone forever. He will, of course, be remembered for what he was. There will always be young people who would want to walk in his footprint -- a mark of true greatness. His celluloid image will remain forever, all right. Yet, his personal warmth will be missed -- by all !