1 hour ago
- copy link
16 October 1948
78 years ago today, Jaya Lakshmi was in the last stages of labor in Ammankudi, Tamil Nadu. She already had two sons, so even before the birth of the third child, she told her husband VSR Chakraborty – ‘See, it will be a daughter. I will name her Hema Malini, who will grow up to become a classical dancer.
Large posters of Durga and Saraswati were put up in the room.
What Jaya Lakshmi said proved to be true, screams echoed in the hospital, a daughter was born. She was named Hema Malini, who today the whole country knows as Dream Girl.
As per her mother’s decision, Hema Malini first became a classical dancer and then a heroine, but this stardom was the reason why she lost her father. The reason was a Pakistani fan entering the house and then spreading terror with a kitchen knife.
Today, on the special occasion of Hema Malini’s birthday, know the interesting story of her life-
As soon as Hema Malini regained consciousness, her mother enrolled her in classical dancing. There was no scope for sports. As soon as she returned from school, Hema would sometimes go to dance class and sometimes to singing class. If any teacher was negligent in teaching, mother would immediately change the classes.
Childhood picture of Hema Malini.
After a few years the family came to Delhi and settled. Classical dance training continued here also. Like every ordinary child, Hema also wanted to play all day long, but her mother had something different in mind. She would put oil in Hema’s hair and braid it, put flowers in her hair and kajal in her eyes. Like a typical Madrasi girl, she would wear ghagra choli. Mother would teach them how to dress and behave properly.
Whenever she would go out on the streets of Delhi like this, people passing by would make fun of her. If Hema would get angry with this, her mother would say – ‘They call you South Indian, so what is the harm in it, you are South Indian only.’
A few years had passed when Jaya Lakshmi clearly told her husband to get her transferred to Madras due to fear of not getting proper classical dance training. The family came to Madras. Soon Hema started doing stage shows.
In one such stage show, 13 year old Hema was noticed by Tamil director CV Sridhar. He immediately cast Hema in the next film. Shooting started. Hema went to the shooting set for 2 days with great enthusiasm. The director was unhappy with his name. It was suggested that the name should be changed to Sujata instead of Hema Malini.
Then on the third day, she was thrown out of the film saying that she was too thin and would never be able to become a heroine.
This rejection was very emotional for the 13 year old girl. Mother then boosted morale and said – This is just a challenge, which will have to be accepted. Hema then returned to the stage.
After some time, Hema Malini got a chance to dance in a song in the 1963 film Indu Sathiyam. After this he started being given small roles in many Tamil films. South filmmaker, producer B. Anant Swamy created new paths for Hema. He would introduce him to filmmakers and get him roles.
B. Ananth Swamy also produced Hindi films. In the late 60s, he started a film with Raj Kapoor, the name was Sapno Ka Saudagar, the director was Mahesh Kaul and the hero was Raj Kapoor. Ananth Swamy suggested Hema Malini’s name to Mahesh Kaul for this film. He took Hema to Raj Kapoor’s studio for a screentest.
Raj Kapoor had just started taking the test in the village girl’s getup when Hema immediately said – I have no knowledge of acting. The test started, Hema said a few lines. Raj Kapoor first looked at the camera screen and then at Hema standing in front and then said to director Mahesh Kaul standing nearby – ‘Look at this girl, one day she will go far.’
At the insistence of Raj Kapoor, Hema was cast in the Hindi film Sapno Ke Saudagar (1968).
Hema Malini played the role of Banjaran in the film. The film was about to be released. No one knew Hema then. Then Anant Swami discovered a new idea to introduce Hema. A tag line.
Hema Malini’s pictures were published in newspapers, it was written below – ‘Raj Kapoor’s dream girl.’
This tagline and promotional stunt did not yield much benefit. The film was average, but everyone started calling Hema a dream girl. Hema was not very successful from the initial film, but when she got success, everyone started calling her dream girl. The title of the 1977 film Dream Girl was named after Hema Malini.
When Hema came to Hindi cinema, Dharmendra had become a star. He was considered the most handsome actor of Hindi cinema. Before entering films in 1968, Hema Malini attended the premiere of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas’s film Aasmaan Mahal. When I looked up, Dharmendra was standing in front. Gentle by nature and surrounded by many admirers. When Hema saw it, she kept looking at it. A voice came in my mind – ‘I have never seen such a handsome person. That day, Hema decided that if she gets married, she will do it with such a person.
Being in the same industry, both of them faced each other many times. Soon both of them were signed together in the film Tum Haseen Main Jawaan. While working together, both started liking each other.
Poster of Dharmendra-Hema Malini’s first collaboration.
Hema was 20 years old and Dharmendra was 34 years old. This was the third film of Hema’s career as a lead heroine. Dharmendra had worked in more than 50 films.
Glimpse of the title song of the movie Tum Haseen Main Jawaan.
The film was released in cinema halls on 24 July 1970, but by then the story of the film had started repeating itself to some extent in real life.
At the same time, Hema Malini got such a film on the recommendation of Dharmendra, due to which she left even the big stars behind. Asha Parekh was offered a film with a double role, the name was Sita Aur Geeta. Dharmendra was going to be its hero. Asha Parekh rejected the film saying that it would flop.
Then Nutan’s name was considered, but she was too mature for the bubbly role. Next, Mumtaz was offered a film. He demanded double the fees. The makers refused him. When Dharmendra came to know that many actresses had rejected the role, he asked director Ramesh Sippy why don’t you cast Hema. Hema was signed.
In a male dominant industry, Hema alone took charge of the film by playing Sita and Geeta and Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar remained just side characters in the film. And Hema Malini got stardom and also got the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
In the commercial of Lux soap, Hema was congratulated for winning the Filmfare.
Hema further gave many films like Dost, Gora Aur Kaala, Garam Masala, Dulhan. During this period, she also gave many films back-to-back with Dharmendra.
Fans wanted to see Hema Malini and Dharmendra together, but Hema’s family was unhappy with this. Dharmendra was married and Hema wanted to marry him. When Hema was not ready to separate from Dharmendra despite the family’s insistence, the family started imposing restrictions. If Hema was shooting with Dharmendra, the family members would accompany her.
Dharmendra and Hema in the song of the film Dream Girl.
The same trend started in the shooting of Sholay, but it was a loss for Dharmendra. Actually, at that time Sanjeev Kumar also liked Hema. He even once sent a marriage proposal, which Hema refused.
Hema Malini and Sanjeev Kumar in the song from the movie Sita Aur Geeta.
When Sholay started being made, Dharmendra was adamant that he would play the role of Thakur and not Veeru, which was being given to Sanjeev Kumar. In such a situation, Ramesh Sippy convinced Dharmendra by saying that Veeru has romantic scenes with Hema played as Basanti, but if Thakur is played, then this opportunity will be lost. Dharmendra immediately agreed, but the surveillance of Hema’s family on the set was hindering the romance. But Dharmendra had a solution to this also. He bribed the cameraman to repeatedly make excuses and say cut while doing romantic scenes, so that he could stand holding Hema in the pretext of shooting.
Glimpse of Sholay’s song.
The same thing happened on the sets of the film Charas also. Dharmendra-Hema were given a car for travelling. Both of them would sit together on the backseat, but as soon as Hema’s father got wind of this, he started traveling with Hema and took full care that she sat between the two.
On one hand there was family pressure, on the other hand Dharmendra’s wife Prakash Kaur did not want to divorce him. In such a situation, Hema also had to bow before the family. At the same time, Jeetendra proposed marriage to Hema Malini on the sets of the film Dulhan. When the family got the news, the matter escalated to the point of engagement. The rasam was to take place in Chennai. When Dharmendra got the news of this, the night before he made trunk calls throughout the night and convinced Hema that even if he could not leave Prakash, he would stay with her for the rest of his life. Hema also wanted to marry him. In such a situation, just before the ceremony, Dharmendra reached Chennai with Jeetendra’s girlfriend Shobha and broke the marriage.
The family also gave up in front of Hema and Dharmendra’s love. Both of them accepted Islam and got married in 1980. Both of them had two daughters, Isha and Ahana.
Hema Malini was a star, but this stardom also caused her a big personal loss.
It was 19th July 1978,
Hema Malini’s father was walking outside the house, when a man came to him and said – I am a fan of Hema Malini, I have come here from Pakistan to meet her.
Hema was not at home that day, her father replied – It is not possible to meet Hema, you come some other time.
When we talked to the people nearby, we came to know that the person had been roaming outside their house for the last several days. The police have also caught him once or twice after forcefully entering their house.
Picture of Hema Malini with father VSR Chakraborty.
The next day Hema returned home, but her father could not tell her this. Everyone had dinner at night and went to their respective rooms to sleep. It was around 1 o’clock in the night when they heard the screams of the maid from the kitchen at the back of the house. When everyone got scared and went downstairs, the same person was standing adamantly holding the Rampuri knife around the maid’s neck. The family members started sweating.
As soon as Hema reached, the man started staring at her and the knife dropped from his hand. The servants of the house caught him. Then Hema’s father proceeded towards the living room to inform the police, where after taking a few steps, he collapsed on the floor. In the chaos, the servants released the man and he ran away. A doctor was immediately called, who declared Hema’s father dead after initial examination. He had suffered a heart attack.
Even after this big loss, Hema focused completely on her career. Meanwhile, Raj Kapoor offered the film Satyam Shivam Sundaram to Hema Malini. Raj Kapoor told her- ‘I know you will refuse, then I want you to do this film.’
Hema could not understand initially, but when she heard the script, she actually refused after knowing the bold characters and scenes in it. After that this role was given to Zeenat Aman.
When she married Dharmendra in 1980, she started being given the roles of the hero’s mother. After a few films, Hema clearly refused such roles and worked as a lead actress in films like Kranti, Naseeb, Satte Pe Satta.
In the early 90s, Hema Malini started the second innings of her career with production. He made the first film of his production, Dil Aashna Hai, with which TV actor Shahrukh Khan made his Bollywood debut. Actually, Hema was looking for a hero. Then he watched Shahrukh Khan’s TV show Fauji. As soon as he saw it, he decided to cast Shahrukh in the film.
The next day she called Shahrukh and said – ‘Hello, I am Hema Malini, I want to cast you in the film.’
Shahrukh, who was struggling in the TV industry, thought it was a joke and ignored the call. However, Hema Malini had to call him repeatedly to meet him. Shahrukh came to meet and he was cast.
Shahrukh has given credit to Hema Malini for coming into films on many occasions.
Apart from this, Hema Malini also directed Tell Me O Khuda (2011). By the late 90s, Hema Malini started being given side roles. Among these, her most popular film was Baghban (Cult), in which she was seen with Amitabh Bachchan. Further, he did small roles in many films like Babul, Veer-Zaara, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Buddha Hoga Tera Baap.
Hema Malini entered politics by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004. Since then till now he has been active in politics. She was a Rajya Sabha MP. In 2010, he was made the General Secretary of BJP. In 2014, he stepped forward in politics by winning the election from Mathura Lok Sabha seat. After this, she won elections from Mathura in 2019 and 2024 also. In this way he won the Mathura seat three times in a row.
Source link
[ad_3]
