#CinemaSnapshot: How Dharmendra escaped a fan's wife who wanted to sing a ghazal for him

I have always imagined He-man Dharmendra on a horse, courtesy the numerous combat-centric films he steered to box office success in the 1970s and 1980s. So when I got an opportunity to click him on a horse, I grabbed it with both hands and the camera lens.

I first met Dharmendra in Nasik in 1988 on an assignment for a magazine. He was shooting with Rekha and Danny for Kasamh Suhaag Ki. We were staying in the same hotel. I was sharing a room with my photographer friend Rakesh Shrestha. Rakesh and I were playing rummy past midnight when we heard a frenzied knock on the door. It was Dharmendra; and he was looking frazzled.

He said, "Arre, one fan just barged into my room with his wife. And he is insisting I hear his wife sing a ghazal for me. I can't handle it so I have come here. I hope I am not intruding." We welcomed him and he joined us in the game till the wee hours of the morning.

The next day, we were together from morning to night at the shooting, while he regaled me with priceless anecdotes from the golden age of Hindi films. After pack-up was called, we drove together to the hotel. During the drive, I remember Dharmendra got emotional as he saw the countryside whizzing past.

He told me, "I once gave a lift to a villager in my car. And he offered me Rs 10 before getting down as fare. I was humbled by the experience."

In the evening, we played a game of badminton together and he really made me sweat it out by making me chase the shuttle all around the court.

Dharmendra and I became mutually fond of each other. He affectionately addresses me as "Raheja". Once, when I met him at his Juhu bungalow, he casually asked me if I had ever interviewed Sunny. While Dharmendra was gregarious, Sunny was an introvert who actively side-stepped interviews. When I said, "Not yet," Dharmendra immediately summoned a sheepish Sunny to the room; and told him, "I trust Raheja, speak to him right now."

-- Sourced from Dinesh Raheja, Bollywood News Service