‘You are immortal, your soul will live through your films’

Shah Rukh Khan and Dharmendra

Shah Rukh Khan on Monday said that veteran actor Dharmendra was nothing but a father figure to him and his death is an irreplaceable loss for cinema and film lovers across the world. 89-year-old Dharmendra passed away at his home in Juhu after a long illness. He had been in and out of the hospital for weeks. He would have turned 90 next month on December 8th.

The Chak De India actor, who attended the last rites of the Sholay star at the Pawan Hans crematorium, remembered Dharmendra and his legacy with a heartfelt post on his social media accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook. “Rest in peace Dharam ji. You were nothing but a father figure to me… Thank you for blessing me and loving me in this way. An inconsolable and irreplaceable loss not only for his family but for cinema and film lovers all over the world. You are immortal… and your soul will live on forever through your films and your beautiful family. I will always love you,” Shah Rukh wrote.

Dharmendra played a memorable role in Shah Rukh’s 2007 superhit film Om Shanti Om and the two superstars danced together on the song Deewangi Deewangi. Khan, along with another legendary actor Dilip Kumar, presented Dharmendra with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. The Pratiggya star had even called the Swades actor her son many times.

Shah Rukh’s eldest son Aryan Khan also visited Dharmendra’s house in Juhu after the veteran actor’s funeral. Dharmendra’s younger son Bobby Deol played the lead character of superstar Ajay Talvar in his directorial debut series The Ba***ds of Bollywood, which premiered on Netflix in September this year and received rave reviews for his performance.

Dharmendra’s elder son Sunny Deol had a fight with Shah Rukh Khan after he got the most impressive scenes in the 1993 romantic thriller Darr, featuring them and Juhi Chawla in lead roles. The duo did not speak to each other for 16 years and put an end to their differences in 2023 when Shah Rukh hugged Sunny at the success party of Gadar 2.

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