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The passing of screen icon Dharmendra last month has left a silence that feels almost impossible to fill. His absence continues to echo through the film industry and among the millions who adored him. On November 27, his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol organised a prayer meet in Mumbai. Hema Malini and her daughters, Esha Deol and Ahana Deol, were not present at that event. Instead, they chose to hold a separate prayer meeting in Delhi today, shortly after what would have been Dharmendra’s 90th birthday.
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The Delhi prayer meet was held at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in Janpath. Among those present was Delhi’s Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who paid tribute to the legendary actor and reflected on the magnitude of Dharmendra’s legacy. In a clip shared by PTI, after offering flowers before his portrait, she addressed the media, saying, “A person like Dharmendra ji, an artist like him, a man dedicated to society the way he was, such a person is born only once in centuries. Across the country and around the world, crores of people are devoted to his craft. His down-to-earth nature, his smile, they ruled the hearts of every Indian. His passing is undoubtedly sorrowful, but his performances and his films will forever hold a place in our hearts.”
VIDEO | Delhi: Hema Malini hosts a public prayer meeting for late actor Dharmendra; Delhi CM Rekha Gupta pays tribute to the legendary actor and remembers his great work.
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/yj4fHNYKGE
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 11, 2025
In another clip shared by ANI, Hema Malini arrived at the prayer meet and paid floral tributes before the portrait of her late husband, accompanied by her daughters Esha and Ahana.
#WATCH | Delhi: Actor and BJP MP Hema Malini pays floral tributes to her late husband, veteran actor Dharmendra, as she arrives at Ambedkar International Centre for a prayer meet organised in his memory.
Their daughters, Esha and Ahana are also with her. pic.twitter.com/knkhDLxLNo
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2025
The earlier prayer meet in Mumbai, hosted by Dharmendra’s first wife Prakash Kaur and their children Sunny, Bobby, Ajeeta, and Vijeta, brought together an extraordinary gathering of well-wishers. Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachjchan, Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan, Shabana Azmi, Jackie Shroff, Sidharth Malhotra and many others arrived to honour the man who shaped generations of Indian cinema. On the same day, Hema Malini and her daughters held a private puja at their home.
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Dharmendra married Prakash in 1954, and they shared four children. In 1980, he married Hema Malini, with whom he had two daughters. Over the years, Hema has spoken sparingly but respectfully about Prakash. In her biography Hema Malini: Beyond The Dream Girl, she wrote, “Though I have never spoken about Prakash, I respect her a lot. Even my daughters respect Dharamji’s family. The world wants to know about my life in detail, but that is not for others to know. It’s no one’s business.”
She also addressed the long-standing myths surrounding her marriage, especially the notion that she lived her life waiting for Dharmendra to appear. “There are people who think I am weeping at home, pining for my man. I am not a police officer who needs to keep tabs on him. He knows his duty as a father and I have never had to remind him of it. Dharam-ji still treats me like he did in the initial days.”
