Veteran star Sharmila Tagore has shared a simple and heartfelt tribute to Dharmendra. He was her co-star, her friend and her “birthday twin.” Dharmendra passed away on November 24. He would have turned 90 this week. Tagore, who turned 81 on the same day, remembered him with warmth and honesty. She spoke of a man who stayed the same despite all the attention that came with fame.
Speaking to PTI, Tagore said that whenever she thinks of him, she sees an unaltered, steady radiance. She looked back at their journey through films like Satyakam, Anupama and Chupke Chupke. For her, his presence was always gentle, even during his peak as one of Hindi cinema’s biggest stars.
She wrote, “Looking back across the decades, the light that falls on Dharmendra remains unchanged … Dharmendra himself seemed pleasantly unaffected by all of it. He carried fame lightly as though it belonged to someone else.”
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Tagore said his legacy was not just about his films. It was also about the way he lived. She said he treated people with kindness and respect, no matter who they were. She said, “To have known him, to have worked with him, is to have experienced a rare and steady light.”
She shared memories from the sets of Devar and Anupama. She was new in the industry then, but Dharmendra made sure she felt secure. She also spoke about filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who guided both of them with a style built on honesty and quiet emotion. Dharmendra understood that approach with ease.
Tagore praised his calm way of performing. She said he could express deep emotion without loud gestures. His work in Satyakam stood out for her. She said “honesty, not performance” defined that film and Dharmendra delivered exactly that.
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While speaking about him, she also celebrated his lighter side. Films like Mere Humdam Mere Dost and Chupke Chupke showed his natural comic rhythm. She said that his role as Parimal Tripathi deserved a National Award. She loved how his comedy looked effortless and spontaneous.
Tagore remembered Dharmendra as someone who never changed with stardom. He treated everyone with the same warmth. She wrote, “He offered them the same easy smile … the generosity came from the Punjab soil that inhabited him.”
Their last film together was Sunny, where Dharmendra played a cameo. She shared that they spoke after her surgery. She had watched Chupke Chupke again and called him to praise his performance. She also said she regretted skipping Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani due to health issues, as it would have brought them together once more.
In her farewell, Tagore wrote that he is “still laughing his open, defenseless, immortal laughter” somewhere over Punjab’s fields. In her final thank you, she added, “Thank you, Dharam, my birthday twin, for the light you carried so lightly. I am sure with your entry into heaven; the Gods must be smiling chupke chupke.”
