"We could hardly bear to see him like that."
On November 24, 2025, Bollywood suffered a deep and personal loss with the passing away of the veteran actor Dharmendra.
The actor died at the age of 89, following an illness and a stay in the hospital.
His prayer meet was held days after his passing. However, not many attended as his family wished to keep it a private affair.
Recently, the UAE-based filmmaker, Hamad Al Reyami, took to Instagram to reveal a heartfelt conversation he had had with Dharmendra’s second wife, Hema Malini.
Hamad said Hema had spoken to him about the late star’s final days and what they comprised.
He wrote: “On the third day of mourning, I visited the legendary actress Hema Malini, wife of the late superstar Dharmendra.
“It was the first time I had met her in person, although I had seen her from afar on many previous occasions.
“But this time was different. A painful, heartbreaking occasion, the kind of thing that is almost incomprehensible, no matter how hard I try.
“I sat with her, and I could see in her features an inner turmoil she was desperately trying to hide.
“She said to me in a trembling voice, ‘I wish I had been at the farm on the same day I was with Dharmendra two months ago. I wish I had seen him there’.
“She told me how she would always say to Dharmendra, ‘Why don’t you publish your beautiful poems and writings?’
“And he would reply, ‘Not now – let me finish some poems first’.
“But time didn’t spare him, and he passed away.
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“She said to me bitterly, ‘Now strangers will come. They will write about him and they will compose books, while his own words never saw the light of day’.
“Then she added, with deep sadness, that she regretted his fans hadn’t had the chance to see him one last time.”
“And she said to me in a motherly tone, ‘Dharmendra, throughout his life, never wanted anyone to see him weak or ill. He hid his pain even from his closest relatives. And after a person passes away, the decision rests with the family’.
“Then she paused for a moment, wiped away a tear, and said to me clearly, ‘But what happened was a mercy, because Hamad, you couldn’t have borne to see him in that state. His condition in his final days was cruel, painful, and even we could hardly bear to see him like that’.
“Her words were like arrows, painful and true.”
Dharmendra and Hema married in 1980 and share two daughters – Esha Deol and Ahaana Deol.
They appeared in many films together, including Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Sholay (1975), and Rajput (1982).
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