Dharmendra still holds on, Esha Deol confirms: Bollywood icon who made falling in love desirable

Dubai: A few celebrity deaths has triggered as many false rumours of death as Bollywood icon Dharmendra who is on ventilator support in Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital. On November 11th, his daughter and actress Esha Deol took to social media to re-iterate that her father is still alive, despite several Indian outlets reporting he had passed away at 89.

The local Mumbai paparazzi are waiting outside the hospital for live updates.

The night before, Hindi cinema's top actors like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol were spotted visiting the late actor in his last moments at the hospital.

His second wife and actress Hema Malini also urged his fans to pray for his speedy recovery.

Barricades were also placed near his home hours as news of his hospitalisation spread.

Bollywood will truly lose an icon, if Dharmendra gives up the will to live. But who is he and why is he relevant event today?

There are movie stars, and then there are legends who define what it means to be desirable. Dharmendra — the original “He-Man” of Hindi cinema — was both. With that sculpted jawline, those soulful eyes, and an easy smile that could disarm the sternest heart, he was the OG suave romantic. The kind of man you wanted to trust. The one who made decency look devastatingly good.

Born Dharam Singh Deol in Punjab’s Sahnewal in 1935, he rose from small-town obscurity to become one of Indian cinema’s most beloved leading men. When he first appeared on screen in the late 1950s, Hindi cinema was dominated by angst and intensity — but Dharmendra brought something else entirely: warmth. He had the face of a matinee idol and the soul of a poet, an intoxicating combination that made millions of women swoon and men take notes.

His breakthrough came with Phool Aur Patthar (1966), where his raw, masculine energy was perfectly offset by tenderness — a balance he carried throughout his career. The image of him baring his chest in that film became the stuff of legend, setting off a new era of screen sensuality without ever crossing into vulgarity. Yet his range stretched far beyond the brawny.

In films like Satyakam, Anupama, Chupke Chupke, and Guddi, Dharmendra revealed a sensitivity that was deeply human. His eyes could do what entire monologues couldn’t — flicker between desire, dignity, and heartbreak with disarming honesty. As he matured into the 1970s, his filmography became a mosaic of romance, action, and comedy: Sholay, Dream Girl, Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu, and Raja Jani showcased his effortless ability to be everything at once — dashing, funny, fierce, and deeply lovable.

And then there was that water tank scene in Sholay — a moment that cemented his place not just as an actor, but as a mood. Playful, passionate, and fearless, Dharmendra’s Veeru was the man who’d risk everything for love and still make you laugh through the tears.

Off-screen, he is no less magnetic. Colleagues remember him as humble and gracious, a man of quiet generosity who never let superstardom erode his warmth. His great love story with Hema Malini remains one of Bollywood’s most storied romances — a union of beauty and charm that felt written in the stars.

After decades of defining heroism and romance, Dharmendra stepped back — but never away. He re-emerged every few years with the same twinkle, the same smile that had once stopped India in its tracks. His comeback in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani (2023) was proof that charisma, like good wine, only deepens with time. Playing the gentle, poetry-loving patriarch, he reminded a new generation what old-school romance looked like — refined, soulful, and teasingly sassy. His chemistry with Shabana Azmi, culminating in that tender kiss, set the internet aflame — not because it was provocative, but because it was beautifully human. Dharmendra, in his 80s, was still showing the young ones how it’s done

Even in age, his aura remained intact: the tousled hair, the hearty laugh, the sense that behind the star was a man of great heart. He was the kind of hero who never needed reinvention — only a camera, and a reason to smile.

Dharmendra reminds us of an era where men could be strong without being hard, romantic without being rehearsed. He made masculinity tender, made love stories timeless, and made every fan — across generations — believe in the power of charm laced with sincerity.

He wasn’t just the hero of Hindi cinema. He was its heartbeat — the man who made falling in love feel safe.