One of the greatest, most adored superstars of our country, Dharmendra breathed his last on November 24. The He-Man of Bollywood passed away due to age-related illnesses at his Mumbai residence, just weeks before his 90th birthday. But even at the age of 89, Dharam Paaji had not lost the will to be in front of the camera. He shot his last film Ikkis, slated for a posthumous release on December 25, and even requested Apne director Anil Sharma to curate a role for him. In his new interview, Anil opened up about the same, as he spoke about his last meeting with Dharmendra.
Sunny Deol, Anil Sharma, Bobby Deol and Dharmendra
Anil Sharma, who worked with Dharmendra in films such as Hukumat (1987), Policewala Gunda (1995) and Apne (2007), is a close friend of the Deol family. Recently when he appeared on Hussain Zaidi’s YouTube channel, Anil shared, “I went to meet Bobby Deol at their home in September. Dharmendra ji was sitting there and a lot of people used to come and meet him and he used to meet all of them. He met me also and hugged me. He asked me what am I doing?”
Anil remembered, “He told me yaar Anil beta mere liye ek bahut kamaal ka role likh. Mujhe kuch karna hai abhi, camera meri mehbooba hai, woh mujhe bula rahi hai. Mujhe jaana hai uske paas. Kuch kar abhi. Koi aacha role likh (Write an amazing role for me. I want to do something. The camera is my lover and it is calling me. I want to go to the camera. Do something. Write a good role for me).” He went on to add, “Dharmendra ji told this to me to 3 times. I promised him that I will write a role for him. I didn’t know that after a few months he will pass away. This was my last meeting with him. I thought that he is going to turn 90 and look at his zeal. He still loves cinema so much, it is not a business for him, it is his love.”
Anil was set to reunite with Dharam Paaji, his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, and grandson Karan Deol for the sequel of Apne. After Dharmendra’s demise, the script of Apne 2 is now being reworked as a tribute to the late superstar. Meanwhile, fans are eagerly waiting to witness Dharmendra’s magic on the big screen again in Sriram Raghavan’s Ikkis, also starring Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda and Akshay Kumar’s niece Simar Bhatia this Christmas.