Bollywood’s He-Man’s first and only film where he played villain, broke his chain of flops, overshadowed hero, but never played negative role again, it is..
Dharmendra’s death: Although the 1965 film Ayee Milan Ki Bela was not Dharmendra’s only film in which he played a villain, it was his first commercially successful film that broke his chain of failure.
Dharmendra in Ayee Milan Ki Bela
Dharmendra Singh Deol, also known as Dharam Paaji, the He-Man of Bollywood, bid farewell to his millions of fans, leaving a void forever. Dharmendra, 90, has been active in cinema for five decades. The handsome foreigner from Punjab’s Sahnewal has struggled to make his mark in Bollywood. He made his debut with Arjun Hingorani’s Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere (1960), but it failed at the box office. It took him four years to make his first hit movie, and the handsome hunk played not a hero but a villain in it.
Dharmendra’s first and only film in which he played the villain
Ayee Milan ki Bela (1965), a romantic drama, was Dharmendra’s first major successful film. In this movie, he acted alongside Jubilee Star Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu. Dharmendra plays Ranjit, whose jealousy and stubbornness in winning Barkha (Saira) leads him to blame his own friend Shyam (Rajendra). The plot of the movie is that Ranjit almost destroys Shyam due to his obsession.
Ayee Milan ki Bela box office performance, Dharmendra’s rise to stardom
Ayee Milan ki Bela was a huge success, earning Rs 2.25 crore against a budget of Rs 50 lakh. Although Rajendra directed the film, Dharmendra became a star after its release. The audience and critics were stunned by Dharamendra’s poor performance. He left Rajendra Kumar in the shade, making the established star jealous.
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Even after the success of the film, Dharmendra never played the villain again
Despite the much-needed success, Dharmendra decided to never play the role of an antagonist. In his 50-year career, Dharmendra has played characters with grey-shades, flawed heroes (read Phool aur Patthar, Pratigya, Johnny Gaddar). But he never played the bad guy again.
Dharmendra passed away
On November 24, Dharmendra was finally buried. He passed away after suffering from shortness of breath and struggling to be taken to hospital. The funeral ceremony took place on Monday afternoon with many players in attendance.
