Sharmila Tagore paid an emotional tribute to Dharmendra, remembering him as a gentle, protective co-star whose goodness touched everyone around him. She recalled how his warmth, dignity and quiet strength made her feel safe throughout their long association.
00:00Joining me now is a very special guest. I'm joined by Sharmila Tagore, who starred with Dharbendra in several iconic films, particularly in the 60s and also in the 70s.
00:15Appreciate your joining us, Sharmila Tagore. The 60s, we turned to first with films like Satyakam, Anupama, films that you did with him that are still remembered.
00:27But your first film in this was Devar. What was your first impression when you met Dharbendra?
00:35That he was very handsome. He was so good looking and charming. He had a wonderful smile and he was wonderful to get along with.
00:46But the first impression that he was very good looking.
00:50First impression that he was very good looking. You know, in those films, some of which were directed by the great Rishikesh Mukherjee,
00:57there was a sense that Dharbendra, the actor, was also coming into his own.
01:01He often was classified more as a star than an actor. But in those films, he really seemed to get the emotional chords right.
01:10Was it easy to act with someone like Dharbendra?
01:17It was wonderful, very easy to act with him because he was, you know, he was very spontaneous.
01:24But you know, with Rishida's film particularly, Anupama first and then Satyakam and then Chupke Chupke,
01:33he had a very different kind of role. And in Chupke Chupke, in a comedy role, he was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
01:41And I really wish that they had given him the national award because for comedy, perhaps there was no appreciation
01:48or no understanding that you can, you know, get those kind of awards, a serious award.
01:54They were meant for serious actors. But I think he was just, he was very good.
01:59All the films I've done with him, I've really enjoyed. I've worked in seven films with him.
02:04You know, I'm looking at scenes from Chupke Chupke, which was a classic in that comic genre.
02:10And it was a multi-starrer with you, Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra.
02:16Jaya Bachchan, I'm just trying to understand.
02:19Jaya.
02:20And Jaya Bachchan, I'm just trying to understand.
02:23And Omprakash.
02:24And Omprakash, you've got all the number names right.
02:27There was a sense that he had a great gift of comic timing.
02:30I remember once interviewing him and said he actually relished doing comedy.
02:38Yes, I mean, he was so good.
02:40You know, I could still remember because it's my go-to film.
02:43Every time I'm sort of not feeling too bright, I see Chupke Chupke and it makes me laugh.
02:50He was brilliant, you know, that when he's pretending to be, you know, he has a lisp.
02:57You know, he does it so well.
02:59I mean, it was absolutely wonderful.
03:03It was such a fun, light film.
03:06Tell us what it was like shooting for the film.
03:09Even in Anupamahi was very good.
03:11What was it like shooting for the film with Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan?
03:15You all must have had a whale of a time.
03:18Absolutely.
03:20It was just having, you know, a lot of fun.
03:26Just enjoying ourselves, really.
03:28It didn't feel like shooting at all, you know.
03:31And we were allowed to improvise and Rishida was wonderful, you know.
03:36He was such a wonderful director, easy director, calming director.
03:41You know, he would play chess in between when the lighting was going on.
03:46He would play chess and share a lot of jokes with us.
03:49So, everybody felt very relaxed.
03:51And Dharm in Satyakaam was brilliant.
03:54That was a serious film.
03:56Yeah.
03:57I'm just trying to understand.
03:58You know, everyone we've spoken to has spoken about his simplicity.
04:01That here comes someone from rural Punjab, makes it big in Bollywood.
04:05Was that something true of that entire generation?
04:08That they didn't have the starry airs, particularly the 60s.
04:12I guess by the 70s, the superstars had arrived.
04:15But the 60s, was it a generation of more self-effacing actors who enjoyed their stardom,
04:20but didn't really have to, it was not in your face?
04:23No, I think Raj Kapoor was not self-effacing.
04:30Sure.
04:31There were a lot of other actors who were not self-effacing.
04:34It was just dependent on one's personality, you know.
04:38Yusuf Sahib was different, but also made his impact, you know.
04:43He knew what to say, how to say.
04:45Dharm was a very simple person, very good natured.
04:52He was relaxed, he was himself all the time, you know.
04:58He didn't put on any star-like or put on any other personality, you know.
05:04He was completely relaxed and smiled and just like any normal person.
05:11He didn't try to change, you know. He remembered his past.
05:16Because many saw him as this action hero, but when the films that you did with him,
05:21there was a softer side, almost a vulnerability to his smile.
05:25He could actually woo women, not just because he was so good-looking,
05:30but there was a vulnerability almost to that action hero that was there in the 60s.
05:35Before, of course, he became the macho he-man in the 70s.
05:39Like he was very disarming, like his smile was so disarming with that little twinkle in his eyes,
05:51and which revealed his soul, you know, which was very clean and very non-judgmental, you know.
06:00He wasn't either judging others or himself. He was what he was.
06:06So that came through because camera is a very discerning instrument, you know.
06:12So I think he, it caught his, you know, on my birthday, one of my 75th birthday,
06:21a friend of mine had made a film and had asked Amitabh and others, Gulzar Sahib,
06:28to, you know, say a few things about me, and Dharam was one of them.
06:33And he said such wonderful things, and it all straight from the heart, you know.
06:38And he's, he was like that. He was very much himself.
06:42He didn't, there was no pretense or trying to be like somebody else,
06:46or, you know, this star-like mannerisms. His smile was, came straight from the heart.
06:53And he stayed like that right through, even when he became a big star,
06:57he remained the actor that you had, or the star you had first met in films like Anupama and Satyakam,
07:04and before that, they were?
07:08Yes, absolutely, absolutely. You know, he was, I worked with him in Sunny also, much later.
07:16Yes. And he was a very, very established star by then.
07:20And of course, he did it for his son, because that was Sunny's, I think, early films.
07:28Yes.
07:29With Raj Khosla. And he was, he was exactly the same. Welcoming, and I just loved his smile.
07:38Right now, I'm only thinking about his smile, you know, kind of self-deprecating, you know.
07:45It came straight from the heart, really. I just loved his smile.
07:49But you know, I want you to give…
07:50Can we share a birthday? You know that, no?
07:52You, both of you are born December 1. You're born December 1. I can reveal your age, 1944.
07:57And if I'm not mistaken, he was born December 1. He would have been 90. So, he was born 1935.
08:06No, no. No. That's right. 10 years apart.
08:11Yes.
08:12We are 10 years apart, but not December 1. 8th December.
08:15Sorry, 8th December.
08:16December the 8th.
08:17Yes.
08:18So, both of you…
08:198th December.
08:20And 10 years apart.
08:21So, did you all ever have a birthday party? I just wonder whether Sharmila Tagore and Dharmendra would have ever had a birthday party together.
08:27No, unfortunately not. No, but every time… I mean, I also… I've been getting on, but I don't know how long I'll be around.
08:38But for the rest of my life, most certainly, I'll think of him. I think we'll cut a cake for him also.
08:44Y'all didn't share… Y'all didn't do a birthday party together, but you must have exchanged wishes.
08:50And interestingly, he adjusted to the new generation. He even went on Instagram.
08:54So, it's a bit like you who've also adjusted to the new age and he also found his way…
08:59Yes, he was doing that, wasn't he? Yes.
09:02I mean, I'm… I'm just trying to get a…
09:05I'm… I'm still not tech savvy.
09:07You're still not tech savvy, but you know, he did his film in 1960, the first one,
09:11around the same time that you did your first film, despite that 10 year gap.
09:15And… and, you know, 65 years later, you're still with us doing something or the other.
09:21And he was still doing cinema. I mean, this longevity is quite remarkable, isn't it?
09:26Yeah. When you look at him, 65 years of continuously doing films.
09:30Remarkable.
09:31And… and why… what is it that special quality that makes someone…
09:35Yes, and now this film is going to release.
09:37What makes longevity, you think?
09:39I think he… he was a… I think he was a very fit man.
09:45He had taken a lot of exercise once upon a time.
09:48And I continued to so. He was a… you know, he was a robust individual.
09:55And he had seen… I mean, at one… once upon a time, he had worked pretty hard, you know.
10:02Hmm.
10:03So, that always helps… one's physical health.
10:07And, of course, I think he did pretty much what he wanted to do.
10:11And he did it very graciously.
10:14You know, he hasn't hurt anybody. He didn't have a guilty conscience.
10:18And I think he's helped so many people.
10:21So, he had a lot of duas, you know.
10:23He had a lot of good… goodwill with him.
10:26Okay.
10:27So, I think all that helped his longevity and his…
10:31As… and…
10:32As we end, ma'am, your… your favorite Dharmendra film or moment…
10:37I mean, he did from Shole to Satyakaam, a variety of films.
10:41Do you have a favorite Dharmendra film that you will maybe watch tonight
10:44or a song that you will recall when you think of him?
10:47I'll most certainly watch Chupke Chupke.
10:52Because that was so different and it makes you laugh and he was so funny.
10:56So, most certainly… I can't say a favorite film because he's done so many…
11:01You can't… you can't just have one favorite film.
11:03He's done many films.
11:05But Chupke Chupke is most certainly a film that I will watch every now and then.
11:10Just to make me… just to… just to laugh and smile and feel happy.
11:15I want to tell you there's a song…
11:16I can't remember him the way he was.
11:17I can't remember him the way he was.
11:18There's a song from Anupama that is coming to me.
11:20I'm just looking.
11:21Ya Dil Ki Suno Duniya Waale.
11:24You remember that song?
11:26Duniya Waale, yes.
11:28Yes, and he stands and he's with folded arms and he sings with such serenity.
11:35And what beautiful.
11:37I mean, I've seen those films recently.
11:39Right.
11:40And he was so good.
11:43The film was good.
11:44You know, this is it.
11:45You know, when you're good in a film, every actor shines.
11:48And he's been very fortunate to have… you know, he's worked with very good directors.
11:54And at a time, he's had a huge run, you know.
11:58Right.
11:59He's… from then to now, he was a presence.
12:03So, everything has added up to his longevity.
12:07And his memory, of course, will live on.
12:10And his films will live on.
12:12I have no doubt.
12:13Sharmila Tagore, for speaking from your heart about someone who, as you said,
12:18was one of the most handsome men you'd met.
12:21And remember, you were married to the one and only Nawab of Potodi,
12:24who also, in that generation, had vowed several hearts.
12:28I keep looking at some of the old images of your husband, his date husband as well.
12:33And brings back lots of memories.
12:35But for you on this day, to share some of those memories on Dharmendra,
12:39thank you so much for joining me.
12:42I leave you with one of the songs at this moment of Dharmendra.
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