‘Left out after Dharmendra’s death’; Shobhaa De on Hema Malini’s pain; Says, ‘She chose dignity over drama’

After veteran actor Dharmendra passed away at the age of 89, two separate prayer meetings were held in his memory. One was organised by his first wife Prakash Kaur along with sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol at a Mumbai hotel. On the same day, Hema Malini held a Gita path at her home. She was not present at the hotel prayer meet. A few days later, Hema organised another prayer meeting in Delhi, which her political colleagues attended. Sunny and Bobby were not seen there.

Shobhaa De speaks out

Writer and columnist Shobhaa De recently spoke about this sensitive situation during a chat with Barkha Dutt. She said that Hema Malini and her daughters were completely left out by Dharmendra’s first family during this difficult time. According to Shobhaa, this must have been deeply painful for Hema.





Shobhaa said, “Must have been a particularly difficult and hard decision… To be totally left out by the first family from something that she had spent 45 years of her own life… Nourishing, cherishing, which had enriched her life.” She added that Hema had two daughters from this marriage. Still, Hema chose to keep her pain private.

Choosing dignity over attention

Shobhaa pointed out that Hema Malini could have easily taken the spotlight during Dharmendra’s passing. “She could so easily have hijacked those emotional moments,” Shobhaa said. She explained that the media would have followed every emotion, but Hema chose not to make a public display. Instead, she protected her dignity and grief.

A quiet show of strength

Shobhaa praised Hema for handling the situation with grace. “Given the fact that Hema is a towering personality herself, the idea that she chose dignity over making a public display of one-upmanship says a lot about her character,” she said. Shobhaa also noted that Dharmendra had two parallel families, but neither side ever disowned the relationship. According to her, Hema handled the loss in a way that stayed true to who she is.