Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl
By Ram Kamal Mukherjee, Harper Collins, 256 pages, Rs 295
One might wonder if there’s any reason to read about the life of a celebrated superstar whose every move has been fodder for the popular press in India. But Hema Malini’s recent biography, Beyond the Dream Girl, published by Harper Collins India, must be read for this very reason.
Ram Kamal Mukherjee — her friend, film journalist and biographer who has known her for several decades and has written a book about her earlier — took up the task of compressing nearly five decades of her life on the big screen and beyond, into a 300-page tome.
It is important that we understand that film stars who rule our hearts and minds for decades do not always make it to this special place by a sleight of good luck. Malini’s story of making it big in the Hindi film world and reigning there as one of the most powerful actors needs to be told because it is a tale of courage, dedication, back-breaking hard work, destiny and of course good luck, but more of the others.
To be able to chronicle the life and times of a legend even as the juggernaut of her success rolls on is a tough task and Mukherjee acknowledged it when he spoke to the Weekend Review. “When I decided to write a book on Hema Malini, the biggest challenge was to tell stories that were never [told] or lesser known facts. I had written a coffee table book, Diva Unveiled, on Hema Malini in 2005, and in [the] last 13 odd years, a lot happened in her life — personal, professional and political. I wanted to write a “complete” biography and with someone as “active” as Hema, it’s difficult to sum up her 50-year career in 300-odd pages.”
Titles and adages given to movie stars on both sides of the divide are often marketing spin offs and brand-building exercises created by PR teams. However, halfway through the book, one realises that Malini not only deserves to be called the “Dream Girl” because of her beauty but also for the fact that she was able to remain true to that image through the five decades that she has dedicated to Bollywood, reinventing herself with renewed passion and dedication, breathing life into the dreams of millions of her fans through generations.
Malini may be 69 going on 70, but she has proved beyond doubt that she is not less than a one-woman industry, creating new niches as she moves from one milestone to another.
The book truly chronicles the sweat and the tears that she put in to earn that position right from the time she was a toddler. She worked hard to be a consummate Bharat Natyam dancer as her mother desired, entered the world of films at the tender age of 15, reigned as the top-ranking actress for decades, took on the cultural challenge of performing classical ballets and then went on to make a fairly successful debut into Indian politics as a member of the ruling BJP party.
If anyone needs a raison d’etre to read the biography, in chapter 15, Mukherjee writes: “one the most remarkable things about Hema Malini is the extraordinary breadth of her accomplishments. An enduring screen diva, a producer, a director for films and television, dancer and choreographer, creative collaborator, magazine editor, a public officer, not to mention her many personal roles — I can think of no other industry name who can match the spectrum of her achievements. At an age when most people would prefer to rest on their laurels, Hema keeps finding something new to engage and dedicate herself to.”
True to that thought, the book takes us through the vicissitudes of growth and evolution of the actress, but never forgets to chronicle her failures, her disappointments and the intricacies of her relationships with actresses such as Dimple Kapadia, Vyjanthimala and others. On the other side, the book offers a brief glimpse into some amorous dalliances of Malini with actors such as Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra and eventually her marriage to the already-married superstar Dharmendra. Sometimes the effort seems wry in some places and sometimes too condensed to pack in all the punches in that space, but Mukherjee has made a sincere attempt to weave the warp and weft of the multitudes of threads of her life giving us a kaleidoscopic view of her colourful life.
One moment she is a young schoolgirl from a very middle class household perfecting the intricacies of dance, another moment she is this majestic diva with drop dead gorgeous good looks, making the directors take up women-centric themes, on another occasion she is performing majestic ballets, directing and producing movies, handling her love for a married man with professional composure, celebrating motherhood, getting into politics… the tremendous discipline, restrain and professionalism of the actress shines through the pages.
Mukherjee has tried to remain faithful to the central theme of the book — that is introducing the life of Hema Malini beyond the glamour and glitz of super stardom. There is a good degree of honesty in depicting her as a person.
For instance, her fans know that Malini is an introvert, reticent individual and speaks Hindi with a terrible accent and the biographer has either mentioned it quite directly in the book as the narrative progresses or referred to other media articles or opinion of contemporaries to establish that.
While there is hardly any mention of Dharmendra’s first wife Prakash Deol in the book or Malini’s thoughts about her, Mukherjee has tried to explain how the two stars fell in love with each other despite the odds. He gives the reader a glimpse into the impossible love that the two co-stars felt for each other. The reader accepts the fact that this young woman who had no life outside of Bollywood and was paired opposite Dharmendra for most part of her professional life, had no choice but to marry him. Dharmendra’s dedication as her husband and father to their two daughters as well as his attempts at striking a balance between two households is mentioned. It was a tough choice for both but an inevitable one.
It is common knowledge that both Dharmendra and Malini are very reticent about discussing their marriage. And there is no section where we get a chance to know what Dharmendra actually feels about Malini. However, towards the end, Mukherjee has dedicated a chapter each to the couple’s daughters — Esha and Ahana where both talk about the flak they faced at school when friends told them their mother was married to an already married man. The girls do not fail to mention that while they coped with it in their own emotional way, the fierce love they felt for their parents was what got them through it. They mention their half brothers — Bobby and Sunny Deol — and also make a passing reference to the first wife, Prakash.
Mukherjee feels he did as much as he could to give a true depiction of their household in this matter. “If this book would have been a fiction, then Hema is my female protagonist and Dharmendra is my hero. There is no doubt. But as I mentioned earlier that more than their romance, (which is a largely-known fact) I wanted to know his role as a father, friend and grandfather from his daughters. Ahana barely speaks, she can be tagged as a recluse. She spoke at length about her equation with her father and step brothers. Esha being an outspoken personality spoke about incidents that people have never read or heard [about]. Even Hema spoke about how her relationship with Dharmendra evolved in last 34 years.”
As decades change, Mailini may have taken a back seat in films but she continues to lead in many other roles, particularly her role as an MP from Mathura. The book leaves the reader with the impression that there is plenty more to unfold with perhaps some dynamic new editions to be released later.
When asked if he were to sum up in one line what his two–year labour of love meant to him, Mukherjee gives a beautiful answer: “It blurred the lines between dream and reality. Her life is a must read for all who wants to chase their dreams.”
