![\"Dharmendra](\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/ht-img\/img\/2025\/12\/14\/550x309\/pspsps_1765690910940_1765690922532.webp\" "\\"Dharmendra")
Dharmendra and Hema Malini in SholayDharmendra and Hema Malini\u2019s romance during filming<\/p>\nFilmmaker Ramesh Sippy has reflected on the off-screen romance between Dharmendra and Hema Malini during the making of Sholay, as the iconic film returns to theatres decades after its original release. Sholay: The Final Cut was re-released in 4k in Indian cinemas this week, marking 50 years of the 1975 blockbuster. While featuring the film\u2019s original ending, the release also carries an emotional note of tribute to Dharmendra, who passed away on November 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
Dharmendra and Hema Malini in SholayDharmendra and Hema Malini\u2019s romance during filming<\/p>\n
In a recent interview, Sippy revealed that Dharmendra\u2019s relationship with Hema Malini was at its peak while Sholay was being filmed. He recalled that one of the film\u2019s most memorable scenes \u2014 Veeru\u2019s dramatic declaration of love \u2014 carried a strong personal undertone for the actor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was in the mood. He drank a few pegs. I know that because I could see it in the way he climbed up and down the water tank. It used to scare me too. When I followed him up the water tank, he assured me nothing would happen and that it\u2019s all acting. So, I gave him a free hand. Because it was his confession of love in front of everyone. He was ready to sacrifice his love so even Mausiji relented. Since this was his confession of real love, he put all his might into it,\u201d Sippy recalled in an interview with Siddharth Kannan.<\/p>\n
Sippy agreed that the performance leaned into method acting, noting that Dharmendra was deeply invested in the moment as it mirrored his real-life emotions for Hema.<\/p>\n
\u2018It felt good for the film as well\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
The filmmaker also spoke about the moment when Dharmendra and Hema acknowledged their relationship after one of the shooting days wrapped up. According to Sippy, the revelation only strengthened the on-screen dynamic between the two actors. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening in the film, that\u2019s also the reality now. So, it felt nice. I also felt it\u2019s good for the film because the real romance reflects on screen as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sippy had previously collaborated with both actors in his 1973 comedy Seeta Aur Geeta. In an earlier interview with SCREEN, he had also shared how he persuaded Dharmendra to take on the role of Veeru when the actor had expressed interest in playing Gabbar or Thakur instead saying, \u201cYou won\u2019t get Hema Malini otherwise!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dharmendra’s passing<\/p>\n
Dharmendra passed away on November 24 at the age of 89. He is survived by his wife, actor Hema Malini, and their daughters Esha and Ahana Deol, as well as his children Sunny, Bobby, Vijeta and Ajeeta Deol from his marriage to Prakash Kaur. Following his death, tributes poured in from across the Hindi film industry, with colleagues, co-stars and filmmakers remembering him as one of Hindi cinema\u2019s most enduring stars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Filmmaker Ramesh Sippy has reflected on the off-screen romance between Dharmendra and Hema Malini during the making of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,17623,160962,160967,134,17624,107802,44422],"class_list":{"0":"post-347241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-dharmendra","12":"tag-dharmendra-death","13":"tag-dharmendra-sholay","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-hema-malini","16":"tag-ramesh-sippy","17":"tag-sholay"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}