Mumbai— A resurfaced clip from Simi Garewal’s iconic talk show Rendezvous with Simi has renewed public interest in one of Bollywood’s most-discussed love stories, as veteran actress Hema Malini reflects on her marriage to Dharmendra and the choices she made along the way.
In the video shared by Garewal on Saturday, Hema Malini recounts meeting Dharmendra for the first time at a film premiere. “I thought I had never seen such a handsome man in my life,” she said, adding that she later learned he had expressed similar admiration for her.
Asked whether she hesitated knowing Dharmendra was already married, Hema said she didn’t initially consider it deeply. “Somewhere in my mind, I used to think, ‘If I ever marry, I must marry somebody like him.’ Not him, but somebody like him,” she told Garewal. She recalled Dharmendra frequently professing his love, while she responded casually, aware of the complications their relationship could bring.
Hema said the turning point came with time and inevitability. “It was destiny,” she said. “We were together for so long… So one day, I called him and said, ‘You have to marry me now.’ He said, ‘Yes, I’ll marry you.’ And that’s how it happened.”
Reflecting on Dharmendra’s first marriage, Hema said she consciously stayed away from any conflict with his existing family. “I never tried to compete with his other family… In love, you are supposed to give, not demand,” she said. “I never irritated him, never put pressure on him. I wanted the love to continue.”
She added that the strength of their relationship came from mutual understanding and respect. “When you give so much, you receive so much. That is love.”
Sharing the clip, Garewal praised Hema’s “selflessness and grace,” noting that choosing to marry a married man is not a choice many women today would make. “Having chosen to follow her love, Hema-ji handled the relationship with a rare degree of selflessness,” she wrote.
Hema Malini and Dharmendra, who met in the early 1970s and married in 1980 despite considerable opposition, remain one of Bollywood’s most enduring and storied couples. (Source: IANS)
