Happy Birthday Dharmendra!

Today marks the birthday of an eternal romantic and action hero of Bollywood. One who has mesmerized us with his onscreen presence and ruled cinema for more than two glorious decades.

Published: Sunday,Dec 08, 2013 09:42 AM GMT-07:00

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Today marks the birthday of an eternal romantic and action hero of Bollywood. One who has mesmerized us with his onscreen presence and ruled cinema for more than two glorious decades. Yes, its the birthday of our beloved Dharmendra so join BollyCurry in wishing the talented actor on this very special occasion.

The Sikh Jat was born as Dharmendra Singh Deol on 8th December, 1935, to Kewal Kishan Singh Deol and Satwant Kaur. He soon changed his name to Dharmendra when he entered the film industry. Dharmendra married Prakash Kaur at the age of nineteen and had four children: Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Ajeeta and Vijeeta. While shooting for Sholay in 1975, he fell in love with Hema Malini and married her in 1980. From this marriage, he had two children: Esha and Ahana Deol. Of his children, besides Ajeeta and Vijeeta, all have appeared on-screen.

Dharmendra began his incredible journey in a supporting role in Dil Tera, Hum Bhi Tere in 1960. Following this, he has acted in movies such as Bandini (1963), Main Bhi Ladki Hoon (1964) and Kajal (1965). He managed to break-through in the film industry in 1966 with Phool Aur Pathar where he played a role with negative shades. However, his major action film that firmly established his career came in 1971 in the form of Mera Gaon Mera Desh.

Dharmendra dominated the screens in the late 60s and 70s. His film Yaadon Ki Barat was also remade in Tamil which featured veteran actor M.G.R. He has starred with his wife, Hema Malini, in over ten films including Dharam Veer, Sholay, Bhagwat and Raj Tilak. He has also acted in seven films with Amitabh Bachchan which includes the evergreen Sholay and the comic Chupke Chupke. Till date, Dharmendra has won several awards such as the sought-after Filmfare, a National Award (1991), a Lifetime Achievement Award (1997) for his contribution to cinema, and the Padma Bhushan in 2005.

Besides acting, Dharmendra also owns his own production house and launched his sons Sunny Deol with Betaab (1983) and Bobby Deol with Barsaat (1995). His National Award was for his home production movie Ghayal (1990). Known for his friendly nature off-screen, Dharmendra also has a keen interest in politics and consequently won the MP vote in the 2004 general assembly elections. He has also been seen judging India's Got Talent (2011).

To celebrate the great icon's birthday, BollyCurry brings to you a playlist of his greatest hits: