When I met Bollywood icon Dharmendra in Dubai with sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol: 'It's my fans love that keeps me alive'

Dubai: When I met Dharmendra in Dubai back in 2018 for the premiere of his family drama  Yamla Pagla Deewana Phir Se, I discovered a jolly man who didn’t take his stardom too seriously.

The venue was an invite-only luncheon at the Meydan Hotel — the kind of sit-down, elegant setting where you’d expect polite applause and quiet admiration. Instead, the moment the Deol family walked in, the room erupted like a rock star concert hall.

The guests — mostly women draped in diamonds and carrying designer bags — had been quietly tucking into biryani, all poise and good manners. That composure evaporated the second Dharmendra and his sons, Sunny and Bobby, entered.

Suddenly, it was squeals, phones in the air, and a mad dash to get a photo. I remember glancing at Dharmendra, expecting him to raise an eyebrow at this frenzy. Instead, he chuckled, almost proud of the chaos he inspired.

Back then Sunny was there as the face of Lux Cozi, the men’s innerwear brand that hosted the lunch, but it was their dishy dad Dharmendra who drew the loudest cheers. I watched him politely stop every few steps, indulging selfie after selfie like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“It’s their love talking,” Dharmendra told me with a laugh, gesturing at the excited crowd.

“Sometimes it’s like a flood and is a bit uncontrollable.” He wasn’t exaggerating — just a day earlier, they had cancelled a mall appearance in India because of surging crowds.
“It was a security issue,” Sunny said. “But it feels good to know you are loved so much.”

Despite all the noise around him, Dharmendra seemed almost boyish. The three had reunited for a Punjabi-flavoured comedy directed by Sangeet Sivan, and he likened the anticipation to being back in school.

“I feel as if I am a KG student waiting for the results of an exam,” he joked. There was zero pretense, only a charming vulnerability that you rarely see from legends.

A fan asked him to dance on stage. Without hesitation, he stood up.

For a man whose famously imperfect dance style has been referenced, mimicked, and celebrated for decades, he didn’t treat the moment like a performance — more like an invitation to joy.
“When papa dances, people love it,” Sunny told us. “Even actors imitate papa in their films. Lots of people realised they didn’t have to be perfect on the dance floor after watching him dance.”

Dharmendra nodded, smiling. “See sir, dancing is something not many among us really know,” he said. “Only five per cent of us in this room know how to dance — the rest are like me. So have fun.”

The room roared with laughter. That was his superpower: reminding everyone that it was okay not to be perfect.

Later that evening, the trio headed to the Meydan Imax for the film’s premiere. But the moment that stayed with me wasn’t the red carpet or the flashbulbs — it was Dharmendra, laughing at himself, waving at strangers, and embracing the madness around him with a childlike sincerity.

For a Bollywood icon with decades of stardom behind him, he never once acted like one.