Hema Malini was ’embarrassed’ to sit on this actor’s lap, film became blockbuster, also has an interesting Dharmendra connection

Hema Malini sits on Dev Anand’s lap in Johny Mera Naam

Besides Dharmendra, Hema Malini also shared amazing on-screen chemistry with Dev Anand. The duo starred together in many films in the early 1970s, including Tere Mere Sapne, Joshila, Shareef Budmaash, Chhupa Rustam and Amir Garib. But the film that started it all was the crime thriller Johny Mera Naam, in which Hema and Dev were paired on screen for the first time. The 1970 release had a popular soundtrack by Kalyanji-Anandji and the songs Pal Bhar Ke Liye and O Mere Raja are still appreciated by music buffs.

Speaking at an event celebrating Dev Anand’s 100th birth anniversary in Jaipur in September 2023, Hema Malini recalled how the shooting of O Mera Raja became embarrassing for her. He shared that they were shooting near Nalanda in Bihar and had to sit on a sky tram for a portion of the song. The Dream Girl actor said: “There was a scene where we had to sit on a rope chair. He was already sitting and I had to sit on another chair, but since I missed it, he makes me sit on his lap. This was very embarrassing for me, I feel very uncomfortable in real life and in the movie.”

She also added that when the electricity was disconnected, she was stuck on him and had to sit on his lap in the rope chair. “So the shooting started and the rope chair was moving but it stopped right in the middle. The electricity went out. I said, ‘Dev saab, I can’t sit like this’. I didn’t want to put my full weight on his lap. It was very, very uncomfortable,” Hema concluded.

Johny Mera Naam became the highest-grossing Indian film of 1970. Vijay Anand’s directorial also inspired the name of Dharmendra’s starrer Johnny Gaddaar. In one of the scenes in the 2007 film, the traitor Neil Nitin Mukesh is forced to check into a hotel and when he sees Johny Mera Naam being played on the television at the reception desk, he uses the fake name Johnny and gives Sriram Raghavan the title of Johnny Gaddaar.

Meanwhile, 18 years after the crime thriller, Dharmendra has reunited with Sriram Raghavan for the upcoming war drama Ikkis, which follows the life of Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, who was posthumously awarded India’s highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakra, for his bravery in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. Agastya Nanda plays Arun, while Dharmendra plays his father, Brigadier. ML Khetarpal had also served in the Indian Army. Ikkis is scheduled to be released in theaters on December 25, in time for Christmas.

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